The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stake Lifted by Quantinno Capital Management LP

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 25.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,410 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.21.

Southern Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.30 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.64 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $95.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.18.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.