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

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $57,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 holdings in Southern by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets restated 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. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.71.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’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 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. Insiders sold a total of 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $1.48 on Tuesday, reaching $76.95. 8,919,194 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,824,416. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.82. The company has a market capitalization of $84.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $77.07.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Southern’s payout ratio is 72.35%.

Southern Company 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.