The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $232,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Southern by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 121,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,941,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Southern by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 78,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,037,000 after acquiring an additional 12,509 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Southern by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 75,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,771,000 after acquiring an additional 10,057 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $89.07 on Friday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $97.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.33.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

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.