Sovran Advisors LLC Takes $305,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $1,576,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Southern by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 42,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its position in Southern by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 16,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Southern by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 102,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,471,000 after acquiring an additional 3,829 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its position in Southern by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 7,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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 dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This represents 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 Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $86.85 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.77. The company has a market cap of $95.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. 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 Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.