Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,845 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares during the quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $5,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Southern by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 562.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $112,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:SO traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $91.47. 1,511,293 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,459,372. The company has a market cap of $100.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a one year low of $73.20 and a one year high of $94.45. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $90.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 73.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. Mizuho increased 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. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.54.

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.