Huntington National Bank Increases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,274 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $16,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 63.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC increased its stake in Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 120.1% during the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $86.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.12. The stock has a market cap of $95.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.27.

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.