Bokf Na Has $2.79 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bokf Na lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 35,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 595 shares during the quarter. Bokf Na’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $785,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $219,000. SCP Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $548,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,978,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,760,000 after buying an additional 18,841 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.44 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $90.34. The company has a market cap of $97.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $85.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. Southern’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.71.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.