Ethos Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 47.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Abel Hall LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $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 corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $97.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $84.90 and a 200 day moving average of $86.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

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.