Vinva Investment Management Ltd Raises Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 47.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,611 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,636 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $1,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. SageOak Financial LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $646,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $292,000. Enhancing Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. Xponance Inc. increased its position in Southern by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 154,537 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,721,000 after buying an additional 5,618 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in Southern by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 355,997 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,306,000 after buying an additional 10,867 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded down $1.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $87.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,912,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,309,209. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week 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. The business's 50-day moving average is $86.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.23. The company has a market capitalization of $96.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted 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. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.