The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by NBT Bank N A NY

NBT Bank N A NY reduced its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 631 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Abel Hall LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.8% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 4.5% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 4.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 8.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 1.5 %

Southern stock opened at $92.75 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.54.

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.