Huntington National Bank Grows Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 187,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,274 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank's holdings in Southern were worth $16,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in Southern by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,792 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in Southern by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 53,793 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $221,000. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 12.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $87.92. The stock had a trading volume of 4,463,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,443,138. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month 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 company's 50-day moving average is $89.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.13.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.