The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 270,787 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,892 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $22,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.21.

Southern Trading Up 1.5%

Southern stock traded up $1.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.72. 4,181,166 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,435,569. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $89.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.18. The company has a market capitalization of $97.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. 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 Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.64 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

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, 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents 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.

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.