Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 30.4% in the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Southern by 62.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE SO traded down $0.98 during trading on Thursday, reaching $77.71. 1,469,655 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,775,060. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $80.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $85.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. Southern’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.73.

About Southern

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.