Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 229,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $20,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 382.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after acquiring an additional 33,120 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 8.8% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Southern by 149.5% during the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $455,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.27.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related 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 value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $88.93 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $64.53 and a twelve month high of $91.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $97.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $88.18 and its 200 day moving average is $80.68.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

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.