The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 82.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,544 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 51,056 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 562.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.78 during trading on Monday, reaching $89.49. 5,997,535 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,435,096. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $89.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.13. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.64 and a 12-month 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.