Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,029,318 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,517 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Southern worth $84,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at about $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,772,000 after acquiring an additional 5,589 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,626,000 after acquiring an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,033,000 after acquiring an additional 140,151 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.5 %

Southern stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Thursday, reaching $90.01. The stock had a trading volume of 4,652,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,150,662. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $98.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.00.

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.