First National Trust Co Sells 1,469 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First National Trust Co cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its stake in Southern by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the second quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $87.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.52. 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’s 50-day moving average is $89.97 and its 200-day moving average is $83.99. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

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.