Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Sells 9,804 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 38.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,652 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 9,804 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 60,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,983,000 after acquiring an additional 18,809 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,437 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $319,000. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,972 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE SO traded down $1.12 on Wednesday, hitting $89.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,104,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,483,514. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.64 and a 1-year high of $94.45. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $89.92 and its 200 day moving average is $87.18. The firm has a market cap of $98.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 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 is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.

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.