Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 1,469 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,469 shares during the period. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Abel Hall LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 4.5% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.3 %

Southern stock opened at $88.72 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.87. The company has a market capitalization of $97.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.99 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.54.

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.