Summit Global Investments Acquires Shares of 9,131 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $840,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $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 fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of SO traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $89.92. 4,337,969 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,515,127. The stock has a market cap of $98.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.