The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Position Raised by L & S Advisors Inc

L & S Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 69.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,155 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,160 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc's holdings in Southern were worth $3,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during 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 buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company'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 owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SO. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given 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 $91.46.

Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $91.82. 4,175,381 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,501,821. 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 twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.27. The company has a market cap of $100.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.

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.