Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Sells 125 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Creative Planning increased its position in Southern by 3.4% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 368,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,245,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,279 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $321,000. Finally, Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.79.

Southern Stock Up 0.5 %

SO stock opened at $86.85 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $95.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.