3,467 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Bought by May Hill Capital LLC

May Hill Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,467 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $92.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,392,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,521,041. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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%. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.46.

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.