Prudential PLC Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Prudential PLC grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 65.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,530 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.46.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $89.07 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.34. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

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.