TCW Group Inc. Buys New Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

TCW Group Inc. purchased a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 16,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,162,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 30.4% during the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:SO traded up $0.58 on Friday, reaching $77.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,424,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,115,094. The firm has a market cap of $85.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $73.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.79. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $80.14.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

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.