The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 942,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 85,921 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.09% of Southern worth $67,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Southern by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Southern by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $301,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,578,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. The firm has a market cap of $83.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.98.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 72.35%.

About Southern

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.