The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Abbrea Capital LLC

Abbrea Capital LLC raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the period. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank raised its stake in shares of Southern by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.36.

Southern Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $73.21. The company had a trading volume of 5,478,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,729,207. The company’s 50-day moving average is $69.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.31. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $80.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

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.