UMB Bank n.a. trimmed its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 85,597 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,832 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.'s holdings in Southern were worth $6,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,444,343,000 after purchasing an additional 352,023 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $694,953,000 after acquiring an additional 163,986 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $634,988,000 after acquiring an additional 349,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $488,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, December 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.00.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on SO
Insider Activity at Southern
In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total transaction of $359,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,291,435.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total value of $359,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,284 shares in the company, valued at $7,291,435.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,007,222.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,806,063 over the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Southern Trading Down 0.5 %
Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $70.98. 3,798,409 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,560,230. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.49. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $68.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.89. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. Southern's revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.
Southern Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Southern's payout ratio is 77.14%.
Southern Company Profile
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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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