WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 16,392 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 131.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,392 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Gentry Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Southern by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.9% in the third quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 0.4% in the third quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 28,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.38.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $91.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $103.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.82. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.