Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC Purchases 6,137 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,845 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares during the quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $5,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Syverson Strege & Co grew its position in Southern by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its stake in shares of Southern by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 671 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $90.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,332,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,470,757. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.35. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $73.20 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released 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, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is presently 73.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.54.

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.