109,130 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Bought by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 109,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,984,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $85.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $93.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.77.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.79.

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.