The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lowered its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 499 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE SO opened at $90.01 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $98.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $86.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.24.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their price target 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.00.

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.