Vestcor Inc Has $11.85 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Vestcor Inc reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 131,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,268 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Southern were worth $11,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.3% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 162,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Executive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,197,000. Adalta Capital Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC now owns 29,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,646,000 after buying an additional 1,425 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd boosted its position in shares of Southern by 89.7% in the third quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 7,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 3,760 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $84.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $92.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

About Southern

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.