Forte Capital LLC ADV Increases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 35,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $87.78 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.99 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $96.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average is $83.50 and its 200 day moving average is $86.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

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.