Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,830,059 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,830,059 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $315,290,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.35% of Southern at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 8.0% during the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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Southern Price Performance

Southern stock traded up $2.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $91.54. The company had a trading volume of 6,727,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,285,584. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.00. The company has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.82%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Southern Company 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.