Foster Group Inc. Buys New Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Foster Group Inc. bought a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Southern by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 15,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 4,625 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Southern by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 83.7% in the 4th quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 6,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,815,000 after purchasing an additional 15,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Platform Technology Partners grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 3,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. 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. KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.64.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $88.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $97.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.96 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.29.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

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.