111 Capital Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $608,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $364,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 172.4% in the 4th quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 4,709 shares during the period. Level Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $343,000. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 85,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,049,000 after buying an additional 3,029 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 21,075 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,735,000 after buying an additional 3,059 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of SO traded down $0.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $89.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,337,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,515,163. The company has a fifty day moving average of $89.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.26. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $98.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.21.

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.