Edgar Lomax Co. VA Sells 3,895 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Edgar Lomax Co. VA lessened its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 201,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,895 shares during the quarter. Edgar Lomax Co. VA's holdings in Southern were worth $16,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company'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 transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.54.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $91.07. 1,160,020 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,491,782. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $72.11 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $100.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $89.59 and a 200 day moving average of $87.33.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

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.