The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Glen Eagle Advisors LLC

Glen Eagle Advisors LLC increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 103.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,488 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,356 shares during the period. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth 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, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's 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 $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.82 during trading on Monday, reaching $89.66. 3,129,514 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,495,286. The company has a market capitalization of $98.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The business's 50-day moving average price is $89.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.20. 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 Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.64 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

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.