Glen Eagle Advisors LLC Grows Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Glen Eagle Advisors LLC grew its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 103.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,488 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 7,356 shares during the quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.

Southern Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $90.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $89.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.17. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.64 and a 52-week 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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