Waverly Advisors LLC Has $18.06 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 31.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 219,362 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 52,493 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $18,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. AM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 89,441 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,363,000 after acquiring an additional 8,261 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $384,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 56,716 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,115,000 after acquiring an additional 5,904 shares in the last quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $573,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 331.0% in the 4th quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 10,494 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 dated 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 owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.82 during trading on Friday, reaching $89.66. The company had a trading volume of 3,129,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,495,286. The company's fifty day moving average price is $89.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.19. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.64 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $98.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The business's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.21.

Southern 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.