Park National Corp OH lessened its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE: SO – Get Rating) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 609 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Southern were worth $ 894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $ 268,032,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 195.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,591,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $ 109,169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052,909 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 122.8% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,375,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $ 94,360,000 after acquiring an additional 758,323 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $ 49,357,000. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $ 45,314,000. 60.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
NYSE SO opened at $ 65.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $ 69.48 billion, a PE ratio of 30.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.48. The Southern Company has a one year low of $ 60.12 and a one year high of $ 77.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $ 73.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $ 69.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70.
Southern (NYSE: SO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $ 0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $ 0.91 by $ 0.06. The business had revenue of $ 6.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $ 5.93 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 10.09%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $ 0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $ 0.68 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $ 0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 13th. This represents a $ 2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 125.93%.
Several research firms have commented on SO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $ 68.00 to $ 80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 19th. StockNews.com began coverage on Southern in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $ 67.00 to $ 66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 23rd. Credit Suisse Group started coverage on Southern in a research note on Monday, April 25th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $ 77.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $ 67.00 to $ 76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $ 73.29.
In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,500 shares of the company stock in a transaction on Monday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $ 68.29, for a total transaction of $ 990,205.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 26,917 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $ 75.96, for a total value of $ 2,044,615.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $ 2,328,933.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 322,331 shares of company stock worth $ 23,363,999. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company stock.
About Southern: (Get Rating)
The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services segments. 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, wholesale gas services, and gas pipeline investments operations.
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