The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Ascent Wealth Partners LLC

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Financial Enhancement Group LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,033,000 after purchasing an additional 140,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted 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. Morgan Stanley cut 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

SO opened at $88.46 on Friday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.99 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.92 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $83.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.