The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Stiles Financial Services Inc

Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.5% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,472,000 after buying an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in Southern by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 13,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 2,476 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $228,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.2% during the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 7,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after buying an additional 2,532 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

Southern stock opened at $84.53 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.69. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.79.

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.