2,081 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Bought by Raiffeisen Bank International AG

Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $171,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE SO opened at $88.72 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.13. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.64 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.21.

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.