The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Southern Trading Up 2.6 %

SO opened at $84.95 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $84.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% 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.