The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1,747.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 896,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 847,803 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Southern worth $73,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 0.7% in 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 grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 3.0% in the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.72 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.64 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $97.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.21.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.