Kestra Investment Management LLC Takes $145,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $145,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd 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 period. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 84.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.79.

Southern Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:SO opened at $87.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.80. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.99 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

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.