iSAM Funds UK Ltd Purchases New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:SO opened at $89.49 on Tuesday. 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 current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.14.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 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 the company's stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.

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