Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Has $229,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in Southern were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,472,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 13,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 2,476 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth $228,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its stake in Southern by 3.2% in the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 7,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 17.2% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:SO opened at $84.53 on Monday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $92.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.69.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

Southern 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.