Greenleaf Trust Boosts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,747 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $435,979,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $369,131,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 5,840.2% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,949,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $194,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Southern by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other 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 transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 2.2 %

Southern stock traded up $1.58 on Friday, hitting $72.15. 6,549,252 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,270,214. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The firm has a market cap of $78.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.49. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.05.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Southern’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.07.

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.