VeraBank N.A. Purchases Shares of 3,012 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

VeraBank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 3,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,000. W Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $2,037,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Southern by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 40,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,829,000 after buying an additional 5,195 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern 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 value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:SO traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $75.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,578,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. 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 company has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.64. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.98.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. 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 3.80%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 72.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.71.

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.