Kiker Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kiker Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 13,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,152,000. Southern makes up 0.9% of Kiker Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 61.8% in the 4th quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,973 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 4,192 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its position in Southern by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $289,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 76.8% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 360,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,692,000 after purchasing an additional 156,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1,799.2% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,279 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 2,159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm'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 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 trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note 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 assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

Southern Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $1.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.73. The company had a trading volume of 3,912,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,309,209. The stock has a market cap of $96.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company's fifty day moving average price is $86.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.23. 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 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Southern's payout ratio 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.