HF Advisory Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 57.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,431 shares during the quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:SO opened at $96.98 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The company’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.