Voleon Capital Management LP Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 68,129 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,608,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,056,441,000 after buying an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $889,490,000 after buying an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,288,000 after acquiring an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.07.

Southern Stock Down 0.4 %

Southern stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $91.06. The company had a trading volume of 4,060,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,465,625. The firm's fifty day moving average is $90.09 and its 200-day moving average is $87.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $74.88 and a fifty-two week 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 released 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. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is presently 73.82%.

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.