Advisory Services Network LLC Boosts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 128,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $232,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Southern by 0.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 121,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,941,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 19.1% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 78,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,037,000 after buying an additional 12,509 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,175,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 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 $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho boosted 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. Scotiabank raised 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. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $87.19 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.30. The company has a market capitalization of $95.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.74, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Southern Company 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.