The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Armor Investment Advisors LLC

Armor Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,391 shares during the quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 16,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Southern by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 102,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,471,000 after buying an additional 3,829 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its stake in Southern by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 7,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 53,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,387,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Mizuho increased their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.79.

Southern Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $85.47 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $93.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.71.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.