Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC Takes $9.70 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 117,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,699,000. Southern accounts for 2.6% of Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $217,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Southern by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 148,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,245,000 after buying an additional 5,836 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in Southern by 9,665.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 269,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,170,000 after buying an additional 266,561 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC raised its stake in Southern by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after buying an additional 3,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 68,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,602,000 after buying an additional 1,365 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $83.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.59 and a 200 day moving average of $86.65.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.79.

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.