Independent Advisor Alliance Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 139,919 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,725 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Southern were worth $11,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 33,544 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 203,518 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,754,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Southern by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 223,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $18,359,000 after buying an additional 9,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,033 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,741,000 after buying an additional 2,111 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lifted their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.54.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded down $0.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $89.26. The stock had a trading volume of 2,411,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,296,383. The company has a market cap of $97.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day moving average of $85.43 and a 200 day moving average of $87.07. 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 1 year low of $67.53 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.

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.