The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 47.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $90.77 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $66.62 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $99.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.54 and a 200 day moving average of $86.92.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

About Southern

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.