iSAM Funds UK Ltd Acquires New Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $89.66. The stock had a trading volume of 3,129,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,495,286. The Southern Company has a one year low of $76.64 and a one year high of $94.45. 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 stock has a market cap of $98.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $89.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.19.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Southern's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade 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.

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.