Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,084 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,935 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,084 shares during the quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,302,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 13,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,091,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 3,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 46,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Southern by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.77 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $66.62 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $99.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $84.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.92.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Southern Company 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.