Vestcor Inc Boosts Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 143,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,495 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Southern by 151.6% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 235,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,383,000 after purchasing an additional 141,876 shares during the last quarter. Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,006,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 42,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares in the last quarter. SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $702,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $109,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

Southern Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.72 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $85.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $97.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.