Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Sells 346 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV reduced its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 346 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the first 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 lifted its holdings in Southern by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the first quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE SO traded down $2.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $86.57. The stock had a trading volume of 6,373,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,525,437. The company has a market capitalization of $94.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.07. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $89.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. 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 research report on Friday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Argus upped their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.33.

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.