The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Position Decreased by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 427 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Southern by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,288,000 after buying an additional 194,114 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.88 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.96 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $97.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.30.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.