UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Grows Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 30.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,752 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,846 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $5,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after buying an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 3.0% in 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 buying an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $315,290,000. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $92.04. The stock had a trading volume of 2,546,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,488,497. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $87.34 and its 200-day moving average is $87.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. 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.