Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 194,114 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.60% of Southern worth $543,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 8.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Southern Trading Up 3.2 %

SO traded up $2.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $91.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,727,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,285,584. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. 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's fifty day moving average price is $85.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Southern's dividend payout ratio 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.