Modera Wealth Management LLC Purchases 2,974 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 33.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,974 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th 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. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.77 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $84.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.92. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $66.62 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value 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 $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

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.