Symmetry Partners LLC Buys Shares of 3,516 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Symmetry Partners LLC bought a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

Southern stock opened at $89.65 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $98.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

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.