Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Increases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,948 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,456 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $5,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction 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 represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents 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.

Southern Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $88.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,670,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,500,410. The company has a market cap of $97.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, 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 quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $89.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.23. 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 results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.21.

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.