WMG Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

WMG Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 298.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,915 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,176 shares during the quarter. WMG Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 9,250 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 3,787 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $232,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 303,420 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,567,000 after purchasing an additional 7,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 138,447 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,485,000 after acquiring an additional 33,266 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded up $2.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $91.54. The stock had a trading volume of 6,726,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,285,561. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm's 50 day moving average is $84.90 and its 200 day moving average is $86.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.