BankPlus Trust Department Makes New $492,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.94 on Tuesday. 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 Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.99 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.84.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued 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). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

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.