VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Makes New $292,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $315,290,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,605,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,504,693 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $123,866,000 after purchasing an additional 465,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.76 on Friday, hitting $89.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,327,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,313,021. The company has a market capitalization of $97.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. 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 Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock's 50-day moving average is $86.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.25.

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Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.46.

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.