Elevated Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares during the period. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY boosted its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 21,982 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Gleason Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 15,606 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,114,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 11,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Southern by 0.8% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 19,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 5.6% in the third quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 3,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 61.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 120,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,569,766.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total transaction of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 120,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,569,766.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $85,381.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,832,299.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,680 shares of company stock valued at $1,174,768. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $67.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $72.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $58.85 and a 1-year high of $80.57. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $66.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. Southern had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 82.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SO. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Southern from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.64.

Southern Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.

See Also

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Southern (SO)
• Nike, Inc's Q3 Surprise Isn't All That Surprising: Is It A Buy?
• Want Diversified Upside in Biotechnology? Check out LABU
• 3 Tech Stocks Well Positioned For Growth At A Reasonable Price
• These 3 Dividend Growers Yield More Than the 10-Year Note
• Be Cautious of Valens Semiconductor Analyst Estimates

Receive News & Ratings for Southern Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southern and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.