Amalgamated Bank Has $17.67 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Amalgamated Bank lowered its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,042 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $17,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 32,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,963,000 after buying an additional 2,074 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Southern by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 101,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,172,000 after acquiring an additional 23,266 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 6,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.6 %

SO opened at $88.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $83.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.84. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.99 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.