TIAA Trust National Association Buys 5,171 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 216,208 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,171 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association's holdings in Southern were worth $17,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

SO traded up $1.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $91.10. The company had a trading volume of 4,483,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,495,761. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.26. The stock has a market cap of $99.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week 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 return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.