OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A Purchases 160 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for 2.2% of OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,078,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.8% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 25,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE SO opened at $89.65 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.