Stevens Capital Management LP Raises Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Stevens Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 124.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,094 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Southern were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mosley Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Southern by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 12,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $332,000. Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $239,000. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $240,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $112,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.46.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.8 %

SO stock opened at $89.21 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.24. 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 Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $97.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

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.