Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Acquires 3,890 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in Southern Company by 3.2% during the first quarter, owning 127,260 shares valued at approximately $11.7 million.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company on July 21st for over $1.25 million, representing a 12.32% decrease in her ownership position.
• Southern Company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, with a yield of 3.10%, set to be paid on September 8th.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 127,260 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,890 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Southern were worth $11,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after acquiring an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Southern by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $889,490,000 after buying an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $848,019,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% during 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 valued at $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Southern by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.53.

Southern Stock Down 0.9%

SO stock traded down $0.88 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $94.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,235,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,091,559. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44. The company's fifty day moving average price is $90.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

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.