Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Boosts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,028,945 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,388 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Southern worth $84,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.1 %

SO traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $90.37. 2,982,528 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,401,374. The company's fifty day moving average price is $90.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.31. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $99.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.64 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a boost 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 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.07.

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.