Level Four Advisory Services LLC Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 40.8% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,392,000 after purchasing an additional 7,694 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 213,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,297,000 after buying an additional 9,689 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co lifted its position in Southern by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 7,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Southern by 2.8% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 190,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,195,000 after acquiring an additional 5,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 7.9% during the third quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $91.10 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.92 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised 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. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is 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.