USS Investment Management Ltd Decreases Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

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

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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, Mizuho upped 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. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $89.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,129,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,487,004. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $76.64 and a 1 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. The stock has a market cap of $98.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The business's fifty day moving average is $89.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.20.

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 company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

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.