The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Trinity Financial Advisors LLC

Trinity Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 421 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 29,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,392,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 28,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,311,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Southern by 85.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 7,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Southern by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of SO stock traded down $1.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $81.25. 4,974,349 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,773,441. The business’s fifty day moving average is $85.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.