Wills Financial Group LLC Invests $3.81 Million in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Wills Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Southern Company by purchasing 41,467 shares valued at approximately $3.8 million, making it the firm’s 24th largest investment.
• Southern Company's CEO sold 13,158 shares at an average price of $95.00, resulting in a 12.32% decrease in their ownership.
• Analysts have recently adjusted ratings for Southern Company, with KeyCorp downgrading it to "underweight" while Scotiabank set a price target of $99 after upgrading their outlook.

Wills Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 41,467 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,813,000. Southern makes up about 1.7% of Wills Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Investors Research Corp grew its position in Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Elequin Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copia Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on SO. KeyCorp cut Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.29.

Southern Stock Up 0.4%

SO stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $94.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,656,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,501,037. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.61. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

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.