The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Position Decreased by FDx Advisors Inc.

FDx Advisors Inc. decreased its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. FDx Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $275,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $96.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.81. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.99 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted 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, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.