UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Purchases Shares of 2,926 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 30.4% in 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.71.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

SO traded down $0.37 during trading on Monday, hitting $75.48. The stock had a trading volume of 8,062,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,777,350. The firm has a market cap of $82.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $76.28. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.74.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 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.