Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 194 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hancock Whitney Corp trimmed its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 194 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Southern by 3.8% during the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Southern by 5.8% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 4.5% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $88.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.70 and its 200 day moving average is $84.86. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern 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 in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.47.

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.