SageOak Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 7,844 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

SageOak Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 7,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $646,000. Southern comprises 0.6% of SageOak Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Abel Hall LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $90.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $98.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $86.26 and a 200 day moving average of $87.21. 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 Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.