World Investment Advisors Raises Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,519 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Southern were worth $2,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Southern by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on SO shares. Seaport Research Partners cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on Southern and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.32.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $93.23 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $93.58 and a 200-day moving average of $92.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $105.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.