Cetera Trust Company N.A Invests $46,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in Southern by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 112,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,271,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in Southern by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 13,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 5.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 23,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 1.1% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 16,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.2 %

SO stock opened at $72.99 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $75.80. The stock has a market cap of $79.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, 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 have sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

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.