Mystic Asset Management Inc. Buys 796 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $315,290,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,605,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,504,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,866,000 after acquiring an additional 465,399 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $90.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $86.07 and a 200 day moving average of $87.18. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

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.