GWN Securities Inc. Makes New $2.69 Million Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 32,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,688,000. Southern makes up approximately 0.7% of GWN Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 32,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,671,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 14,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after purchasing an additional 2,920 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 143,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,834,000 after purchasing an additional 6,021 shares during the period. one8zero8 LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $735,000. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $260,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE SO opened at $90.44 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $99.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.13. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

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.