Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. decreased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 19.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after buying an additional 698,422 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after acquiring an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $889,490,000 after acquiring an additional 460,594 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,288,000 after purchasing an additional 194,114 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

Southern stock opened at $89.49 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.64 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.91 and a 200 day moving average of $87.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.21.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.