Czech National Bank Acquires 13,971 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 251,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,971 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $23,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Investors Research Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.3%

SO stock opened at $89.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $98.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. 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 Southern Company has a 1-year low of $76.96 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $89.89 and its 200-day moving average is $87.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business 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%. Southern’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. 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. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.21.

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.