The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Holdings Increased by Addison Advisors LLC

Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 78.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value 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 approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of SO traded down $1.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $73.21. 5,478,762 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,829,927. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $69.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.36. The stock has a market cap of $80.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

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.