World Equity Group Inc. Buys 4,556 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

World Equity Group Inc. raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 101.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,556 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $746,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.92 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.99 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $83.70 and a 200 day moving average of $86.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

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.