OLD National Bancorp IN Lowers Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

OLD National Bancorp IN reduced its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,313 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,444,343,000 after purchasing an additional 352,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after buying an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,953,000 after buying an additional 163,986 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Southern by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $634,988,000 after buying an additional 349,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $73.26 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.24. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

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.