Trustco Bank Corp N Y Sells 800 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Trustco Bank Corp N Y cut its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Trustco Bank Corp N Y’s holdings in Southern were worth $861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.21.

Southern Trading Up 1.5%

SO opened at $88.72 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $89.90 and a 200-day moving average of $87.13. The stock has a market cap of $97.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $76.64 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.