Trust Co. of Vermont Acquires 844 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 382.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after buying an additional 33,120 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC lifted its position in Southern by 8.8% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.5% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Southern by 149.5% in the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 219.4% during the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.07.

Southern Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $93.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $88.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.64. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $64.53 and a 12 month high of $93.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $101.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 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 the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 68.57%.

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 that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Company 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.