Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV Buys 514 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 0.5% of Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Southern by 17,272.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 4.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $51,605,000. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Southern by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,420,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $218,316,000 after purchasing an additional 279,304 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.54.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $88.46 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $96.92 billion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.82. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.99 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Southern Company 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.