Woodline Partners LP Makes New $5.42 Million Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 65,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,417,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying 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 buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays increased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.21.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $88.43. 806,851 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,489,400. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company's 50 day moving average is $89.85 and its 200 day moving average is $87.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a one year low of $76.64 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $7.78 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

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.