Trinity Legacy Partners LLC Purchases 3,590 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Trinity Legacy Partners LLC increased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,590 shares during the quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $577,657,000 after buying an additional 52,414 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $87.78 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.99 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 2.95 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.50 and its 200-day moving average is $86.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.