KBC Group NV Boosts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 85,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,023 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Southern by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 187,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,887,000 after purchasing an additional 15,274 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 12.9% in the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the third quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 53,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.23. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $96.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Southern Company 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.