8,328 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Acquired by AMG National Trust Bank

AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $646,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 3,628.6% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $86.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,987,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,469,779. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $89.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $82.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.93. The firm has a market cap of $94.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

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.