The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 289,999 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,648 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $23,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Syverson Strege & Co lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its holdings in Southern by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 671 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.06 during trading on Thursday, hitting $91.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,018,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,498,882. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $72.11 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $100.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.33.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.54.

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.