Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Buys 407 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 4,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 879 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Southern by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 26,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 258.3% in the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 18,717 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,222.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,998 shares of company stock worth $1,806,063. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southern from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, December 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.46.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $71.06 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $68.40 and a 200-day moving average of $68.83. The company has a market capitalization of $77.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

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.