The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.29% of Southern worth $2,056,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after buying an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $848,019,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,288,000 after purchasing an additional 194,114 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $315,290,000. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after buying an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, 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 $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $91.42. The stock had a trading volume of 4,702,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,510,704. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The firm's 50 day moving average is $87.83 and its 200-day moving average is $87.31. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The business 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%. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.

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.