ICW Investment Advisors LLC Has $1.26 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,004 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 266 shares during the quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $1.19 on Wednesday, reaching $74.69. 1,653,842 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,686,506. The stock has a market cap of $81.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.50.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern 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.