Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 628,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,115 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Southern were worth $54,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 4,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SO. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Six equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.08.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $95.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $93.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.44. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company Profile

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.