Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Buys 407 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 407 shares during the quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Prudential PLC grew its holdings in Southern by 23.4% during the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 3,689 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Southern by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Southern by 63.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,621,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Southern by 35.8% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $65,776,000 after acquiring an additional 239,325 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,007,222.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,998 shares of company stock worth $1,806,063. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, December 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.46.

Southern Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE:SO opened at $71.06 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.14%.

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.