UMB Bank n.a. Has $5.90 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

UMB Bank n.a. cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 65,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,516 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $6,011,000. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC increased its position in Southern by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 11,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $16,067,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE SO opened at $88.27 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.74. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $64.53 and a twelve month high of $91.86. The stock has a market cap of $96.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 68.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America upped 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.27.

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.