Westpac Banking Corp Cuts Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp significantly reduced its stake in Southern Company by 87.7%, selling 19,667 shares, leaving them with 2,770 shares valued at $255,000.
• Analysts have mixed views on Southern Company's stock, with price targets varying from $90.00 to $99.00 and an average rating of "Hold."
• Southern Company reported earnings of $0.91 per share, missing estimates, but generated $6.97 billion in revenue, exceeding expectations with a year-over-year growth of 7.9%.

Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 87.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,770 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 19,667 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Southern were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the first quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $945,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,815,000 after acquiring an additional 15,923 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.29.

Southern Stock Up 0.9%

SO stock opened at $94.80 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $92.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.04. The company has a market capitalization of $104.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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