GWN Securities Inc. Buys New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 32,202 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,688,000. Southern comprises 0.7% of GWN Securities Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 32,452 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,671,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP grew its position in shares of Southern by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 14,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,211,000 after acquiring an additional 2,920 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 143,761 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,834,000 after purchasing an additional 6,021 shares during the last quarter. one8zero8 LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $735,000. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $260,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $90.01. The stock had a trading volume of 4,652,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,288,581. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company's 50-day moving average is $86.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.22.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.00.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern 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.