one8zero8 LLC Sells 229 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

one8zero8 LLC reduced its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. one8zero8 LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 562.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1,747.3% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 896,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,785,000 after purchasing an additional 847,803 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of SO opened at $95.44 on Friday. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $90.87 and its 200 day moving average is $89.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.