Renaissance Technologies LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 562.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.12% of Southern worth $112,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on SO shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Southern Stock Up 1.2 %

SO traded up $1.07 on Monday, hitting $90.93. 776,324 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,212,636. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.25. 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 twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $99.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.