5,942 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,444,343,000 after buying an additional 352,023 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,953,000 after acquiring an additional 163,986 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,988,000 after acquiring an additional 349,122 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 38.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.85. 1,939,101 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,653,632. The firm has a market cap of $80.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.24. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. 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 3.90%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

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.