Van ECK Associates Corp Lowers Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 283,206 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,791 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Southern were worth $19,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,444,343,000 after acquiring an additional 352,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Southern by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,518,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $694,953,000 after purchasing an additional 163,986 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Southern by 3.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $634,988,000 after buying an additional 349,122 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $75.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,468,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,741,049. The company has a market cap of $82.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.54.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. Southern's revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.36.

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.