PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Purchases 4,400 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 518,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $42,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in Southern by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 27,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank grew its holdings in Southern by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 10,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank grew its holdings in Southern by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 10,598 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 14,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % 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 Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE:SO opened at $91.54 on Monday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $85.07 and a 200 day moving average of $87.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Southern 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.