The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,023 shares during the period. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.85. 4,578,202 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. The company has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. 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 one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

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.