Sigma Planning Corp Has $4.61 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sigma Planning Corp lessened its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,240 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the third 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. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $88.46 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.82. The firm has a market cap of $96.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. 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 52-week low of $65.99 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Insider Activity

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

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.