Marshall Wace LLP Acquires 3,307,527 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 325.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,307,527 shares during the period. Southern makes up approximately 0.4% of Marshall Wace LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Southern were worth $355,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.2 %

SO stock opened at $90.97 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business’s 50 day moving average is $88.96 and its 200-day moving average is $87.29. The firm has a market cap of $99.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

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.