United Bank Acquires 4,032 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

United Bank boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,032 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises approximately 1.9% of United Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. United Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after buying an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 4.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $848,019,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,288,000 after purchasing an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $315,290,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $91.10 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.26. The stock has a market cap of $99.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

About Southern

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.