American Trust Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

American Trust Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 837 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises about 1.9% of American Trust Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. American Trust Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank raised its stake in Southern by 1,021.4% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 30.4% during the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.73.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE SO traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $79.77. 3,694,053 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,823,709. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $80.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.55. The stock has a market cap of $87.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

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.