Amundi Acquires 284,022 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Amundi increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,780,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 284,022 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.25% of Southern worth $230,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in Southern by 22.6% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 27,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after buying an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank raised its holdings in Southern by 11.3% in the third quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 10,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank raised its holdings in Southern by 12.9% in the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 10,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 8.5% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 14,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,285,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 9.2% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $91.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.00. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, 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 value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

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.