Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Has $46.98 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 570,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,418 shares during the quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in Southern were worth $46,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $645,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $492,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Southern by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 14,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,164,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 16,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the period. Finally, Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV raised its stake in Southern by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV now owns 41,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,393,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on 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 upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.94 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $83.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.84. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $97.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.99 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

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.