Latitude Advisors LLC Lowers Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Latitude Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 356 shares during the quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted 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. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.79.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $85.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.37 and a 200 day moving average of $86.71. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.