The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,729 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered 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, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $89.67 on Friday. 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 Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.10. The stock has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 71.82%.

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.