The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,985 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $10,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Syverson Strege & Co raised its stake in Southern by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,381,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,508 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,676,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO traded up $1.31 on Tuesday, reaching $90.79. 9,610,871 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,461,606. The firm has a market cap of $99.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.14. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.64 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.21.

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.