Bank & Trust Co Sells 315 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bank & Trust Co lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 315 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for approximately 1.1% of Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth about $128,413,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Southern by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,457,000 after buying an additional 934,447 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2,719.7% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,670,000 after acquiring an additional 841,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 7,657.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,304,000 after purchasing an additional 563,785 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.27.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $88.73. 671,071 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,458,542. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.74. 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 52-week low of $64.53 and a 52-week high of $91.86.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

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