The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Hancock Whitney Corp

Hancock Whitney Corp lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Southern by 10.3% in the second quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 3.2% during the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 8,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 18,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 49.4% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 82,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,426,000 after buying an additional 27,397 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. 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 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $90.34. The company’s fifty day moving average is $86.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.88.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business 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 business posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

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.