Bfsg LLC Buys Shares of 1,415 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $99,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,444,343,000 after acquiring an additional 352,023 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Southern by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after buying an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,953,000 after buying an additional 163,986 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Southern by 3.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,988,000 after buying an additional 349,122 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $74.11. 1,982,252 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,666,706. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.14%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SO shares. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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 investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.36.

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.