Rhumbline Advisers Has $180.69 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,965,098 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 80,109 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.18% of Southern worth $180,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Level Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $343,000. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 85,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,049,000 after buying an additional 3,029 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 15,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 4,625 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 165.3% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 152,739 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,573,000 after acquiring an additional 95,175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:SO traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $88.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,448,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,513,524. The business's 50 day moving average is $89.85 and its 200 day moving average is $87.29. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $96.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.