The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Bank & Trust Co

Bank & Trust Co lessened its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 315 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises approximately 1.1% of Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Southern by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Advocate Group LLC raised its stake in Southern by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 94,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $207,000. Patten Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 6,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in Southern by 15.9% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 14,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.20 on Thursday, hitting $88.73. The stock had a trading volume of 671,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,458,542. 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 Southern Company has a twelve month low of $64.53 and a twelve month high of $91.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.29 and a 200 day moving average of $80.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America upped their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.27.

Southern Company 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.