Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc Acquires 391 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc’s holdings in Southern were worth $352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Southern by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,600,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $214,038,000 after purchasing an additional 179,184 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 291,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,974,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its position in Southern by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 570,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,981,000 after acquiring an additional 2,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $645,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $89.85 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.99 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.97 and its 200-day moving average is $86.86. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $98.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.