Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 300 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 30.4% in the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Southern by 62.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.98 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $77.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,469,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,775,060. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $80.14. The stock has a market cap of $85.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.73.

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.