United Advisor Group LLC Grows Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

United Advisor Group LLC increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 62.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,196 shares during the quarter. United Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.21.

Southern Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE SO opened at $89.66 on Monday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $89.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $76.64 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) 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 company 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 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.