The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 518,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $42,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Equitable Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 27,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank grew its position in Southern by 11.3% during the third quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 10,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank grew its position in Southern by 12.9% during the third quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 10,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $956,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC grew its position in Southern by 8.5% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 14,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Southern by 9.2% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after buying an additional 1,157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $91.54 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $85.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.00. 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 company has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

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.