Park Square Financial Group LLC Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,322 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after buying an additional 3,307,527 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 562.9% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $428,794,000 after acquiring an additional 979,756 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Barclays increased their target price 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. 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. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.21.

Southern Stock Down 1.9%

Southern stock traded down $1.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $88.19. The stock had a trading volume of 5,217,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,503,677. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.23. The company has a market capitalization of $96.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.64 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

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 return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock was 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 owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.