Eastern Bank Buys 37,245 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 265.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,245 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth $25,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 120.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $95.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.