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

Northwest Bank & Trust Co cut its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 16.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advocate Group LLC grew 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 worth $8,513,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $207,000. Patten Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 6,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Southern by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 14,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,299,000 after buying an additional 2,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,740 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of SO traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $88.79. The stock had a trading volume of 625,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,458,310. 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 has a market cap of $97.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.74. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $64.53 and a 12-month high of $91.86.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. 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%.

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.