The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC decreased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 108,069 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,242 shares during the period. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. CNB Bank raised its position in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of SO traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $75.85. 4,578,202 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. The company has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $70.39 and its 200-day moving average is $69.64. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.71.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.