The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 844,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 33,847 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.08% of Southern worth $69,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Southern by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 6,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 5,281 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 4,435 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.46.

Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE SO traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $91.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,175,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,507,219. The company has a market cap of $100.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $87.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.29. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Southern Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.