Amalgamated Bank Sells 13,065 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Amalgamated Bank lowered its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 265,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,065 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $18,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. CNB Bank grew its position in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.71.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.85. 4,469,453 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,739,155. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $70.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.58. The stock has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is 79.34%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.