Old North State Trust LLC Purchases 144 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Old North State Trust LLC lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up about 1.6% of Old North State Trust LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $83.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.47. The stock has a market cap of $91.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

About Southern

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.