Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,023 shares during the quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Southern by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 6,303.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,812 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its position in Southern by 8,375.3% during the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 849,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,989,000 after acquiring an additional 839,621 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 24.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,480,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,558,000 after purchasing an additional 485,562 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the 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 directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.85. The stock had a trading volume of 4,578,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.68. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.98.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 16.74%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.35%.

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.