3,905 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Purchased by Vicus Capital

Vicus Capital purchased a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Argus lifted their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.14.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

SO opened at $77.57 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.28. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $80.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $84.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

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.