Montag A & Associates Inc. Boosts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 50,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 197 shares during the period. 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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 cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $85.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.