Bison Wealth LLC Sells 11,413 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bison Wealth LLC trimmed its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 36.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,103 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,413 shares during the quarter. Bison Wealth LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after buying an additional 528,870 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $889,490,000 after acquiring an additional 460,594 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,288,000 after acquiring an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho increased their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $91.06. The stock had a trading volume of 4,060,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,465,625. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $74.88 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $90.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.42.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Southern's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is presently 73.82%.

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.