Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Has $25.46 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 309,304 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 41,935 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $25,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.07.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.89 on Wednesday, reaching $92.11. 5,011,328 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,443,605. 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 Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $75.20 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The business's 50-day moving average is $90.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion for 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 was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS 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 given 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 3.21%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

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.