Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired 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 disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,996 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $384,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $364,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 172.4% in the fourth quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,709 shares during the period. Level Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $343,000. Finally, Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 85,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of SO stock traded up $1.19 on Friday, reaching $89.94. 10,681,858 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,526,481. The stock has a market cap of $98.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.25. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.96 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale 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 stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average 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.