Czech National Bank Purchases 14,824 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Czech National Bank raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 237,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 14,824 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Southern were worth $19,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,056 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 29,063 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,392,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank lifted its position in Southern by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 28,074 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,311,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 85.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 7,920 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 3,650 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.49 during trading on Monday, reaching $81.81. The company had a trading volume of 3,555,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,796,658. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business's 50 day moving average price is $85.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.16. The stock has a market cap of $89.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.14.

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.