Stevens Capital Management LP Raises Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Stevens Capital Management LP grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 124.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,572 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,094 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP's holdings in Southern were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Abel Hall LLC increased its position in Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $90.95. The company had a trading volume of 513,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,296,045. 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 company has a market capitalization of $99.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company's fifty day moving average is $87.20 and its 200-day moving average is $87.26. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.46.

About Southern

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.