Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 186,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,731 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Southern were worth $13,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $72.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $78.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.05.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern 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.