SageOak Financial LLC Invests $646,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

SageOak Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,844 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $646,000. Southern accounts for approximately 0.6% of SageOak Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.76 on Friday, reaching $89.21. 8,327,269 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,313,021. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $97.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.69 and a 200 day moving average of $87.25.

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Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.