Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas Has $4.66 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares during the quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas’ holdings in Southern were worth $4,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,444,343,000 after purchasing an additional 352,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after buying an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 1.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,953,000 after acquiring an additional 163,986 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Southern by 3.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,988,000 after acquiring an additional 349,122 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 38.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded up $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,227,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,644,823. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $69.23 and a 200 day moving average of $69.24. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.