Fiduciary Alliance LLC Has $2.19 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 153.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,071 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 7.2% during the second 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 24.3% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 223,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,476,000 after acquiring an additional 43,681 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.2% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 79.6% during the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 10,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 4,565 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.9% during the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of SO traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $80.63. 362,767 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,319,523. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $85.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.13. The company has a market capitalization of $88.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SO. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern 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 value of $100,503.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.