J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Purchases 403 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 368,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,245,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $256,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 65,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,918,000 after purchasing an additional 3,443 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,037,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,531,000 after purchasing an additional 22,330 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $85.72 on Monday. 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 $93.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $83.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.81.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.