The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 36.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 934,447 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.32% of Southern worth $247,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $631,068,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Southern by 53.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,444,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,153,065,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707,845 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 38.5% in the 3rd 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 during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 6,303.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,812 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,924,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.36.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $77.94 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $80.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $76.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.