First Bank & Trust Purchases 10,445 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,445 shares during the period. Southern makes up approximately 1.0% of First Bank & Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Southern by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,472,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,277,269,000 after buying an additional 1,283,943 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Southern by 9.1% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,719,486 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,415,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,906,914 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,514,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,394,004,000 after purchasing an additional 584,893 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,428,181 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,073,493,000 after buying an additional 349,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,190,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,296,000 after purchasing an additional 255,838 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $71.04. 1,154,233 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,054,506. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $58.85 and a 12-month high of $78.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.10. The company has a market capitalization of $77.47 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.47 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 9.86% and a net margin of 11.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 98.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Barclays started coverage on Southern in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, June 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.83, for a total value of $339,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,226,693.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.83, for a total transaction of $339,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,226,693.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $99,904.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,878,289.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,490 shares of company stock valued at $2,934,355. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. 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.