Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 15,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Little House Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 145.6% during the first quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 28,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,601,000 after purchasing an additional 16,771 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.27.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

SO stock opened at $94.96 on Friday. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released 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). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% 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.