Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 64,328 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,440,982 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 64,328 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.22% of Southern worth $200,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Chelsea Counsel Co. lifted its holdings in Southern by 22.2% during the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 2,755 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 76,952 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,940,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,480,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 106.4% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,082 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 5,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Southern during the third quarter valued at about $2,361,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.3 %

SO stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $90.68. 598,229 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,464,041. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $89.79 and a 200-day moving average of $87.34. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $73.20 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.54.

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.