Eastern Bank Raises Stock Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Eastern Bank boosted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 9.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,720 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $889,490,000 after buying an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Southern by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $428,794,000 after acquiring an additional 979,756 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Southern by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,107,000 after acquiring an additional 120,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,617,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $240,684,000 after purchasing an additional 22,803 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.53.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $95.03 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.23.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% 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.