The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’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 owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:SO opened at $83.91 on Monday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.43%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

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.