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

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC lifted its position in Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its position in Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 20,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank lifted its position in Southern by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

SO opened at $72.99 on Tuesday. The firm 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. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $69.11 and a 200 day moving average of $69.18.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $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 related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.