Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up about 2.9% of Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 4.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,203,386,000 after buying an additional 1,075,768 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,657,000 after purchasing an additional 52,414 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $83.19 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.66. The stock has a market cap of $91.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.79.

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.