Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Glenview Trust Co

Glenview Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 44.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 31,205 shares during the quarter. Glenview Trust Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,111,450,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.78.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $93.83 on Wednesday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The firm has a market cap of $105.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

Southern Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.