Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bey Douglas LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Bey Douglas LLC now owns 4,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 3,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Planning Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 20,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $85.72 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.77. 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 Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $93.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.79.

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.