HBW Advisory Services LLC Raises Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $774,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 32,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Southern by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 72,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,597,000 after purchasing an additional 4,847 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Southern by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 223,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,476,000 after buying an additional 43,681 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 33.8% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 19,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 5,036 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the second quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 10,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $81.25 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $89.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $85.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SO shares. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

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.