USS Investment Management Ltd Reduces Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

USS Investment Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,403 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,994 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $14,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its stake in Southern by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC raised its position in Southern by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.9%

SO stock traded up $0.82 on Monday, reaching $89.66. 3,129,514 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,495,286. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.20. The company has a market cap of $98.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a one year low of $76.64 and a one year high of $94.45. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Barclays raised 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.

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.