The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Position Increased by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Southern by 325.7% during 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 last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Southern by 72.4% in 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. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 562.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE SO opened at $91.69 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $71.66 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $100.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $89.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.00.

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.