Field & Main Bank Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Field & Main Bank boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Allen Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 21,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,735,000 after buying an additional 3,059 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its position in Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 15,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 77,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 164,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,522,000 after buying an additional 25,818 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $528,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $84.28 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $92.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

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.