Greenfield Savings Bank Sells 573 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Greenfield Savings Bank trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 18.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 573 shares during the period. Greenfield Savings Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $226,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $88.90 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $64.53 and a 52 week high of $91.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.41. The firm has a market cap of $97.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

About Southern

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.