Keystone Financial Group Inc. Invests $217,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 8,741.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485,816 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $51,605,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on SO shares. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

Southern Stock Down 0.2 %

Southern stock opened at $83.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $91.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. 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 twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.65.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.