First Hawaiian Bank Increases Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 24th, 2023

First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 27.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,057 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. My Personal CFO LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Karp Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. 61.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

SO stock opened at $66.34 on Friday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $58.85 and a one year high of $80.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $66.55 and a 200-day moving average of $68.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. Southern had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.62 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.93%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total value of $57,348.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,059 shares in the company, valued at $1,484,791.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at $8,569,766.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total transaction of $57,348.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,484,791.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,680 shares of company stock worth $1,174,768 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.64.

About Southern

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.