Bank & Trust Co Reduces Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bank & Trust Co reduced its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 377 shares during the period. Southern comprises 1.0% of Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in Southern by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 21,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Advance Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Southern by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centre Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 7,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.19 on Tuesday, hitting $81.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,566,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,541,505. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $85.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on SO shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

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.