Sowell Financial Services LLC Increases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,015 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $2,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $315,290,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Southern by 72.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after buying an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after buying an additional 1,075,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,605,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.54.

Southern Stock Down 1.5 %

Southern stock traded down $1.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $88.72. 4,535,984 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,345,376. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $85.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $97.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. 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.