Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 80,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,909 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 120.1% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 0.0%

SO opened at $97.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $107.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on SO shares. Evercore upgraded Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.08.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.