U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 4,723 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,723 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 8,741.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485,816 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $51,605,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 0.1 %

SO opened at $84.03 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.64. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.