Swiss National Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,410,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 97,100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $239,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 38.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after buying an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 6,303.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,199,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,112,000 after buying an additional 1,180,812 shares in the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 8,375.3% in the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 849,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,989,000 after buying an additional 839,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,480,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,558,000 after acquiring an additional 485,562 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Mizuho upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.85. The stock had a trading volume of 4,469,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,739,155. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.58.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 79.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.