ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.95 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,092 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 81,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,730,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 67,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,572,000 after purchasing an additional 2,223 shares in the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $243,000. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 18,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after buying an additional 1,748 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $83.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.31. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

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.