KBC Group NV Acquires 14,908 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 17.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 99,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,908 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 275.0% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $36,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays set a $70.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Mizuho increased their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.56.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $90.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $94.11 and its 200 day moving average is $92.50. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 73.27%.

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.