Warwick Investment Management Inc. Invests $234,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Warwick Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,841 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm's 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 in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents 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. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 3.1 %

Southern stock opened at $90.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.07. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.54.

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.

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