Lifeworks Advisors LLC Buys 58,769 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1,057.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,769 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises about 1.0% of Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Abel Hall LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 3.2 %

SO opened at $91.54 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $85.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.00. 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 Southern Company has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for 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, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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