Vise Technologies Inc. Acquires 14,094 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its Southern Company stake by 47.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 14,094 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 43,729 shares worth about $3.8 million.
• Several large institutional investors also held significant positions in Southern, with Vanguard, Capital World Investors, Geode Capital, and Norges Bank among the biggest owners; overall, hedge funds and institutions own about 64.1% of the stock.
• Southern reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.32 versus estimates of $1.21 and revenue of $8.40 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share.

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 47.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,094 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $3,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Southern by 320.3% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,179,425,000 after purchasing an additional 25,567,431 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Southern by 3.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $808,628,000 after purchasing an additional 285,546 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SO. Evercore raised Southern from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. KeyCorp raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $99.38.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $92.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $104.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $94.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.83. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.Southern's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Southern Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.