OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Buys 600 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Southern were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank raised its position in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SO. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.07.

Southern Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $70.57 on Friday. 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 Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $68.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.49.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.