Oxford Asset Management LLP Purchases Shares of 8,302 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Oxford Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the 4th 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after acquiring an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $848,019,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $543,288,000 after acquiring an additional 194,114 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after buying an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $92.10. 1,896,875 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,461,489. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The business's 50 day moving average is $90.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.41. 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 Southern Company has a one year low of $73.20 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (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 net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 73.82%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.54.

Southern Company 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.