WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $823,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,002 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,734,000. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 139.0% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 17,810 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 10,357 shares in the last quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 11,685 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd lifted its stake in Southern by 139.0% in the 4th quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 19,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,564,000 after buying an additional 11,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 5,583 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $88.67. 1,132,713 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,490,679. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $97.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.64 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.23.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.