The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Southeast Asset Advisors LLC

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Financial Enhancement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $326,000. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its position in Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co. increased its holdings in Southern by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in Southern by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 237,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,556,000 after purchasing an additional 14,824 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 60.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 8,996 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.46.

Southern Trading Down 3.8 %

NYSE:SO opened at $89.07 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $97.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $88.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.32.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Southern Company 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.