Atria Investments Inc Has $10.04 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Atria Investments Inc trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 121,902 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,790 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc's holdings in Southern were worth $10,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 138,447 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,485,000 after purchasing an additional 33,266 shares during the period. United Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,492 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the period. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $242,000. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 22,898 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Southern Stock Up 3.2 %

SO stock traded up $2.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $91.54. 6,727,812 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,285,584. The firm's 50-day moving average is $85.07 and its 200-day moving average is $87.00. The company has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.54.

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.