Farmers National Bank Lowers Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Farmers National Bank cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 456 shares during the period. Farmers National Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,067,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 382.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.8% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Treasury Department lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 514,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,095,000 after purchasing an additional 12,849 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:SO opened at $90.88 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $91.77. The company has a market cap of $99.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.96.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 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. Stockholders 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 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,845 shares of company stock valued at $1,335,135 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.60.

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.