Intellus Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,902 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,902 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction 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 approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Southern Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of SO traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $89.00. The stock had a trading volume of 3,953,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,313,837. The firm has a market cap of $97.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $94.45. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $86.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.23.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Southern

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.