The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Lifted by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 125.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,417 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,243 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted 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 valued at $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 562.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after acquiring an additional 698,422 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group increased 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.21.

Southern Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:SO traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $89.99. 2,008,523 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,426,529. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.64 and a twelve month high of $94.45. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $89.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.14. The company has a market capitalization of $98.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.