Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Purchases 6,178 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,986 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,178 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $91.69 on Monday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $71.66 and a 12-month 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $89.31 and its 200-day moving average is $87.27. The stock has a market cap of $100.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

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.