Intrust Bank NA Has $810,000 Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Intrust Bank NA lowered its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 770 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Southern were worth $810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in Southern by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,171,000 after buying an additional 6,843 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its position in Southern by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 7,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in Southern by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 822,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $75,521,000 after purchasing an additional 42,531 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,352,000. Finally, Investors Research Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1,982.6% in the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.50.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Southern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.56.

About Southern

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.