HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Buys 177 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in Southern by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 143,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,843,000 after purchasing an additional 12,495 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Southern by 151.6% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 235,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,383,000 after buying an additional 141,876 shares in the last quarter. Essential Planning LLC. bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $1,006,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 42,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,465,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Finally, SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $702,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $89.67 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its 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 company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company 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.