The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 68.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 598,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 243,000 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings in Southern were worth $49,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,056,441,000 after buying an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $848,019,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,288,000 after buying an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $91.07 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $73.14 and a 52 week 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.35. The stock has a market cap of $100.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.54.

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.