First National Bank of Omaha Acquires Shares of 176,421 Southern Company (The) $SO

First National Bank of Omaha acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 176,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,976,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $92.12 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $94.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $105.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

Southern Company 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.