US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 424,141 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 7,242 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Southern were worth $39,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 26.0% in the first quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC now owns 3,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,000,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Southern by 530.4% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 26,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,409,000 after buying an additional 22,044 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,451 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,064,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Wealth Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 3,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Southern Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $96.02. 5,837,308 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,309,095. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company's 50 day moving average price is $91.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.50. The firm has a market cap of $105.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The company's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Southern Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern's payout ratio is 76.09%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Southern
In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.29.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on SO
About Southern
(
Free Report)
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.
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