Argyle Capital Management LLC Has $2.16 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Argyle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 825 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Financial Security Advisor Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 12,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,010,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 29,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Southern by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 10,955 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Southern by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 127,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,191 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, 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 report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $97.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.25 and a 200-day moving average of $86.88. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.99 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

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.