Financial Security Advisor Inc. Buys 161 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Financial Security Advisor Inc. raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Financial Security Advisor Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Abel Hall LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,637,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 8.0% during the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.54.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $88.47 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $84.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.88. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.99 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

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 $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, 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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.