Bremer Bank National Association Buys 3,622 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bremer Bank National Association lifted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 52,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,622 shares during the period. Bremer Bank National Association’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Investors Research Corp boosted its stake in Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE SO opened at $89.92 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.26. 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 stock has a market cap of $98.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.21.

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.