Zions Bancorporation N.A. Lowers Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 30,654 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 85,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Southern by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 187,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,887,000 after purchasing an additional 15,274 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Southern by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 53,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $221,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $87.50 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.91 and a 200 day moving average of $84.12. The company has a market cap of $95.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Southern 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.