Hancock Whitney Corp Cuts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hancock Whitney Corp decreased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 194 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $577,657,000 after buying an additional 52,414 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Southern by 5.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,113,000 after buying an additional 145,810 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 3.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,619,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $236,271,000 after acquiring an additional 82,946 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $96.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.86. 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 Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.47.

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.