Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 922 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 1.4% of Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Avestar Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 3,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Southern by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its stake in Southern by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 20,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 347,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,570,000 after purchasing an additional 43,631 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $86.85 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $95.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.77.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.79.

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.