FourThought Financial Partners LLC Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $645,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Abel Hall LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in Southern by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,637,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s 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 owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE SO opened at $89.85 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.99 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.86. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $98.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Southern 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.