PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 3,511 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 514,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,511 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $46,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 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, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Southern during the second quarter valued at about $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $87.97 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’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 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.