American National Bank & Trust Trims Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

American National Bank & Trust trimmed its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 289 shares during the quarter. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Southern were worth $137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $90.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $99.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $62.26 and a 1 year high of $91.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.12.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.27.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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 $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.