The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Capital Advisors Inc. OK

Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 890,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,383 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises about 1.5% of Capital Advisors Inc. OK’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Capital Advisors Inc. OK’s holdings in Southern were worth $73,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Barclays upped their target price 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. Mizuho upped 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE SO opened at $86.45 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $83.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.74. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

About Southern

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.