Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $1.31 Billion Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,876,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,147,937 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 1.45% of Southern worth $1,306,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE SO traded up $0.35 on Tuesday, reaching $91.10. The company had a trading volume of 866,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,456,576. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $89.87 and a 200-day moving average of $87.35. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $73.20 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.22 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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 represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is currently 73.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.