Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Acquires 163,426 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4,825.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 166,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 163,426 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in Southern were worth $13,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Becker Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 212,366 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,482,000 after buying an additional 16,837 shares during the last quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,000. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,608,000. Utah Retirement Systems raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 181,672 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,955,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 267,878 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $22,052,000 after buying an additional 97,619 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.07.

Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:SO traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $91.26. 2,993,799 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,441,334. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's fifty day moving average is $90.14 and its 200-day moving average is $87.34. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $75.20 and a 12-month high of $94.45. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.82%.

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.