Marco Investment Management LLC Has $711,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Marco Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 262 shares during the quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Southern by 38.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Southern by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after buying an additional 1,838,857 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 6,303.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,812 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 8,375.3% in the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 849,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,989,000 after purchasing an additional 839,621 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,480,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,558,000 after purchasing an additional 485,562 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:SO opened at $72.75 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.39. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $79.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.