Oakworth Capital Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Oakworth Capital Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 34.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,982 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Southern by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 222,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,087,000 after purchasing an additional 14,380 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 6,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 20,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. grew its holdings in Southern by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 68,933 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,216,000 after purchasing an additional 3,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Southern by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 94,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,512,000 after purchasing an additional 10,163 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

Southern Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $83.84 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $91.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.67. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.