Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Takes $57,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $57,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank raised its position 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 bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of SO traded up $1.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.95. 8,919,194 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,824,416. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $77.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.82. The company has a market cap of $84.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. One research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.71.

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.