Golden State Wealth Management LLC Invests $635,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 7,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $635,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,699,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Southern by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 148,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,245,000 after buying an additional 5,836 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 9,665.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 269,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,170,000 after buying an additional 266,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after buying an additional 3,405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SO. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:SO opened at $84.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $83.47 and its 200 day moving average is $86.63. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

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.