OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A Increases Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 77,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Southern makes up 2.2% of OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $302,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 4.1% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 25,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $98.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.39 and its 200 day moving average is $87.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

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.