The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,187 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,928 shares during the period. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $4,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Abel Hall LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:SO traded down $0.33 on Tuesday, reaching $90.22. 3,505,432 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,284,067. The business has a fifty day moving average of $86.07 and a 200-day moving average of $87.18. 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 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. 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.