Lincoln National Corp Buys 581 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Lincoln National Corp boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,624,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 4.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Southern by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on 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 owns 121,504 shares in the company, 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 worth $1,364,115 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Trading Up 2.0 %

Southern stock traded up $1.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.95. 8,919,194 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,824,416. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.74. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $77.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during 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%. Southern’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.35%.

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.