Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 252 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 252 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $631,068,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Southern by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,444,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,153,065,000 after purchasing an additional 5,707,845 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 38.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $128,413,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $78.20 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $85.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $80.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $77.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.14.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Argus boosted their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.14.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.