The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stake Lifted by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 942,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,921 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Southern were worth $67,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,444,343,000 after purchasing an additional 352,023 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Southern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,953,000 after acquiring an additional 163,986 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,988,000 after purchasing an additional 349,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.71.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE SO traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.85. 4,578,202 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.