First Horizon Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 298,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $20,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Southern by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,444,343,000 after acquiring an additional 352,023 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,953,000 after buying an additional 163,986 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Southern by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,988,000 after buying an additional 349,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of SO traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $75.03. 2,324,861 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,702,934. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.54. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

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.