Triad Wealth Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 8,358 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $688,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its holdings in Southern by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 9,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares in the last quarter. Patten Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 7,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,288,000 after buying an additional 194,114 shares during the period. WMG Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 298.9% in the 4th quarter. WMG Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 11,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $219,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,835 shares of company stock valued at $1,451,754 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of SO opened at $89.95 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $84.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.94. 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 stock has a market cap of $98.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.54.

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.