The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 10,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 7,211 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 404,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,494,000 after buying an additional 18,483 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 12.1% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s 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 owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE SO opened at $85.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $94.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.99 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.82.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.79.

About Southern

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.