Resolution Capital Ltd Acquires 8,505 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Resolution Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,652 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,505 shares during the period. Southern makes up approximately 0.1% of Resolution Capital Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Resolution Capital Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $4,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on SO. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $89.49. 5,997,535 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,435,096. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $89.90 and its 200 day moving average is $87.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a one year low of $76.64 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business 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%. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. 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 3.31%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Southern 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.