United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Has $6.57 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,854 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,489 shares during the quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $6,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,290,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 72.4% in the 3rd 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 period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 562.9% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock traded up $1.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $91.63. 758,752 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,063,411. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $89.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $72.11 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho raised their price target 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 boosted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.00.

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.