5,756 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Acquired by RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC

RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,756 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded down $3.49 during trading on Friday, reaching $89.07. 8,268,764 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,526,026. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $88.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.33.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given 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 dividend yield of 3.23%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

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.