Northwest Bank & Trust Co Takes $169,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $169,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 19,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank raised its position 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 buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.65. 2,444,513 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,837,078. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $75.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.79. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $80.84.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.36.

Southern 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.