Vista Investment Partners II LLC Invests $459,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC acquired a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,571 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Abel Hall LLC raised its position in Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 4.5% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $1.38 on Wednesday, reaching $88.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,535,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,345,376. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's 50-day moving average is $85.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 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 company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.