Voloridge Investment Management LLC Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 109,417 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,007,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position 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 Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.21.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $88.93. 1,137,864 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,487,717. The firm has a market cap of $97.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. 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 52 week low of $76.87 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $89.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.23.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's 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.