Cetera Investment Advisers Boosts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 537,664 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,192 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Southern were worth $44,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Syverson Strege & Co raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its position in Southern by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 671 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Ten research 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.1 %

SO stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $90.37. 2,982,528 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,401,374. The company has a market capitalization of $99.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.31. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.64 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during 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%. Southern's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. 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 3.28%. Southern's dividend payout ratio 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.