Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Boosts Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management more than doubled its Southern Company stake in Q4, raising holdings by 121.4% to 1.77 million shares worth about $154.2 million.
• Southern reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.32 versus the $1.21 estimate and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 8% year over year.
• The utility also raised its dividend to $0.76 per quarter, bringing the annualized payout to $3.04 and the yield to 3.4%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average target price of $99.38.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 121.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,767,773 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 969,493 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.16% of Southern worth $154,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 320.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,179,425,000 after acquiring an additional 25,567,431 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $376,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,422,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,518.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,044,101 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $95,880,000 after acquiring an additional 979,587 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $89.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $100.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.83. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.Southern's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on Southern and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $99.38.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.