GAMMA Investing LLC Buys New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,444,343,000 after purchasing an additional 352,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after buying an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,953,000 after acquiring an additional 163,986 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Southern by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,988,000 after acquiring an additional 349,122 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 38.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.60 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.85. 1,939,101 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,653,632. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.23 and a 200-day moving average of $69.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.13%.

Southern Company 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.