The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. lifted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 40.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,576 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,608 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $2,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on SO shares. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $88.72. 4,181,166 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,428,817. The firm's 50-day moving average is $89.90 and its 200-day moving average is $87.16. The stock has a market cap of $97.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. 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 Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.64 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

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.