Moody National Bank Trust Division Lowers Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Moody National Bank Trust Division trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 29.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,245 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Southern were worth $995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC increased its holdings in Southern by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 11,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $825,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $843,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $2.01 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $86.57. The company had a trading volume of 6,373,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,525,437. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $79.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.07. The stock has a market cap of $94.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $89.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. 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.