Longboard Asset Management LP Buys New Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp grew 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 valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $83.19 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

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.