First National Trust Co Cuts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First National Trust Co decreased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,469 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 149.5% during the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Southern by 219.4% during the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares during the period. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $455,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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 stock was 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 directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Southern Trading Down 0.7 %

Southern stock opened at $87.71 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.99. 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 $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

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.