IAG Wealth Partners LLC Has $88,000 Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

IAG Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 31.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $88,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at about $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,772,000 after buying an additional 5,589 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 94.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,033,000 after acquiring an additional 140,151 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $88.72 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $85.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.08. 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 one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $97.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.