Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Has $212,000 Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Southern were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SO. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $1,945,000. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Southern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Southern by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $301,000. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $3,795,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.36. 1,360,802 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,646,987. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.24. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on SO. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America upped their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

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.