Allworth Financial LP Increases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 363.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 152,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 119,475 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Southern were worth $12,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of 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 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $85.72 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $93.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.81.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value 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. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. 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.