Wills Financial Group Inc. Has $3.16 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Wills Financial Group Inc. increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 27.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 38,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,347 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for approximately 1.4% of Wills Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Wills Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.44 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $99.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $73.14 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company 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.