Skopos Labs Inc. Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Skopos Labs Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 9,867 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 62.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 689 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus increased their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Mizuho increased their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.73.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,424,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,776,261. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $80.14. The business's 50 day moving average price is $73.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.72. The company has a market cap of $85.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.