Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Has $9.12 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,199 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,664 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Southern were worth $9,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Syverson Strege & Co raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its stake in Southern by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 671 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

SO traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $91.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,114,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,455,250. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.38. The stock has a market cap of $100.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $73.20 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is currently 73.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.