AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 97,619 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 57.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 267,878 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 97,619 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $22,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 106.4% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,082 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 5,713 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 60.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,147,000 after buying an additional 8,996 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 4.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,351,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $121,835,000 after buying an additional 52,799 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Southern by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,262 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Southern by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,881 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $92.11. 5,011,328 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,443,605. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.36. The Southern Company has a one year low of $75.20 and a one 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.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.07.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value 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 represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

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.