National Pension Service Acquires 146,674 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

National Pension Service grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,900,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 146,674 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Southern were worth $252,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 1.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Southern by 320.3% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,179,425,000 after acquiring an additional 25,567,431 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,381,344,000 after acquiring an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Southern by 3.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,628,000 after acquiring an additional 285,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Southern by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,265,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,938,000 after acquiring an additional 255,230 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SO. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $92.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.84. The company has a market cap of $103.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.36. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 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.