NBT Bank N.A. Makes New $1.51 Million Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

NBT Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 18,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,513,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $737,256,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $264,829,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $191,120,000. Energy Income Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $166,114,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth about $157,217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Southern from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. DA Davidson set a $98.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.24.

Southern Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $93.01 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.98. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $81.69 and a 52-week high of $99.58. The firm has a market cap of $107.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.