Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 993 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 993 shares during the quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its position in Southern by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 10,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 127,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,191 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $219,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 12,791.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 291,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,037,000 after buying an additional 289,731 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of SO opened at $88.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $97.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $84.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.88. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.99 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

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.