The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Providence Capital Advisors LLC

Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 5.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank increased its position in Southern by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 15,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,392,000 after buying an additional 7,694 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 44.8% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 31,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,871,000 after buying an additional 9,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Southern by 4.7% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 213,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,297,000 after acquiring an additional 9,689 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 other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $90.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $87.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.26.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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 return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SO shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.46.

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.