New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Purchases 31,776 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 16,464.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 31,776 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $2,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Financial Enhancement Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $326,000. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,626,000 after acquiring an additional 5,434 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,033,000 after acquiring an additional 140,151 shares in the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Southern by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 237,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,556,000 after purchasing an additional 14,824 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $91.82. 4,175,381 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,501,821. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.27. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week 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.

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 (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 company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho boosted their price objective 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 raised their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

Southern Company 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.