The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Increased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 11,230.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,936,965 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Southern worth $179,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Level Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $343,000. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 3.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 15,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 4,625 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 165.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 152,739 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,573,000 after purchasing an additional 95,175 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded down $0.97 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $88.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,346,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,090,680. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $89.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.28. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Southern's payout ratio is 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.