Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. Invests $1.35 Million in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 16,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,350,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,351,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $121,835,000 after acquiring an additional 52,799 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its position in Southern by 22.6% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 27,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth $19,515,000. Holistic Planning LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $419,000. Finally, Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 28,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,560,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $91.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

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.