Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV Has $264,000 Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% in 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 during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $84.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $92.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $83.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.65. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

Southern 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.