Ossiam Makes New Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Ossiam purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 112,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,461,710,000 after buying an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after acquiring an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $848,019,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 3.0% during the fourth 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. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.00.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $91.69 on Friday. 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 Southern Company has a 52 week low of $70.70 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $89.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, 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 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 quarter. 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.