Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Has $19.38 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 151.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 235,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 141,876 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 19,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,720,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $674,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $302,000. Verus Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $233,000. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $217,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

Southern Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued 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 3.21%. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.