3,892 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Purchased by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 6,303.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,812 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 8,375.3% in the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 849,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,989,000 after purchasing an additional 839,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,480,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,558,000 after purchasing an additional 485,562 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,126 shares of company stock worth $1,364,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $75.48 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $76.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $70.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $82.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.35%.

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.