Garde Capital Inc. Invests $344,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,174 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after buying an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,056,441,000 after acquiring an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,288,000 after purchasing an additional 194,114 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $88.19. 5,217,872 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,503,677. 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 company has a market cap of $96.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $89.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.22. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $76.64 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 company's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.21.

Southern 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.