Bokf Na Lowers Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bokf Na reduced its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 237 shares during the quarter. Bokf Na’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 4.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,351,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,835,000 after buying an additional 52,799 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Southern by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 29,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. raised its holdings in Southern by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 85.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 7,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,650 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.07.

Southern Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $92.11 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.64 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $101.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $90.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

About Southern

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.