The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Fidelis Capital Partners LLC

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,107 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Southern by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 6,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $1,561,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Southern by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 92,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,588,000 after purchasing an additional 35,103 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 2,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 206.6% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SO. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

Southern Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $66.62 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.