GoalVest Advisory LLC Increases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 18.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,361 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Southern by 11,230.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in Southern by 19.8% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 9,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO raised its stake in Southern by 20.4% in the first quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 5,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. raised its stake in Southern by 1.8% in the first quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 49,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,531,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Southern by 7.5% in the first quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 5,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.21.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern 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 owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.87 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $89.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.23.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

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.