The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by TBH Global Asset Management LLC

TBH Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. TBH Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of SO opened at $86.55 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.80. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.99 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.