Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Reduces Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 380 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $77.55 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $77.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.31. The stock has a market cap of $84.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $80.84.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.14.

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.