Fiduciary Alliance LLC Boosts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 153.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,071 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 8,741.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485,816 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2,719.7% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,670,000 after purchasing an additional 841,435 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $80.63. 362,767 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,319,523. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $88.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

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.