Empire Financial Management Company LLC Has $1.40 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Empire Financial Management Company LLC lifted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 24.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,033 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,366 shares during the quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its stake in Southern by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 2,755 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 76,952 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,940,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Sculati Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 106.4% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,082 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $999,000 after acquiring an additional 5,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,361,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company'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 in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $91.26. 1,070,167 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,975,083. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $89.87 and a 200 day moving average of $87.35. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $73.20 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.54.

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.