The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.48% of Southern worth $428,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted 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 acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $112,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1,747.3% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 896,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $73,785,000 after acquiring an additional 847,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.21.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $89.66. 3,129,514 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,487,004. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $89.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.20. The firm has a market cap of $98.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.64 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

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.