旗舰港顾问有限责任公司在南方公司（纽约证券交易所代码：SO）的地位不断提高_新浪财经

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Southern by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,002,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,284,352,000 after buying an additional 3,653,841 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 94,652,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,436,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Southern by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 65,068,549 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,424,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313,036 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Southern by 57.3% in the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,062,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $208,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $65,112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.78% of the company's stock.

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Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $66.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.36. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $58.85 and a 1 year high of $80.57.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 12.40%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Wolfe Research raised Southern from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Southern from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a "sell" rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.64.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at $8,569,766.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,569,766.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $85,381.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,832,299.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,680 shares of company stock worth $1,174,768 over the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Company Profile

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.