ICW Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised 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. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.21 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $86.69 and its 200 day moving average is $87.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $97.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’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 owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.