The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Fiduciary Alliance LLC

Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 153.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,071 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $2,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 72,152 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,597,000 after buying an additional 4,847 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Southern by 24.3% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 223,145 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,476,000 after acquiring an additional 43,681 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.2% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,853 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 79.6% during the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 10,301 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 4,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,707 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following 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 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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $81.81. 3,555,408 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,796,658. The business's 50-day moving average price is $85.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Southern Company 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.