Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. Trims Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. cut its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Southern by 244.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $89.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.64 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.21.

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.