UMB Bank n.a. Sells 330 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

UMB Bank n.a. lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 330 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.6% in the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Gleason Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.8% in the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 16,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Planning LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Constitution Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 16.0% in the first quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 13,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGH Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

Southern stock opened at $88.26 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.28. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.96 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $97.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given 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 3.35%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SO. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.64.

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.