C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors Has $958,000 Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 862 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors’ holdings in Southern were worth $958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $145,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 113,338 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,330,000 after buying an additional 7,390 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after buying an additional 4,887 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Southern by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 70,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,829,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,401,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $115,385,000 after acquiring an additional 35,606 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $86.55 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $83.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.80. The company has a market capitalization of $94.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.99 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company 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 is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.79.

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.