Nebula Research & Development LLC Acquires Shares of 6,254 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,254 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $515,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Southern by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Southern by 562.9% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $91.06. 4,060,834 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,465,625. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $74.88 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $100.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Southern's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business'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 value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.