First National Corp MA ADV Sells 240 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First National Corp MA ADV lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV’s holdings in Southern were worth $674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $27,000. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $30,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total transaction of $359,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,284 shares in the company, valued at $7,291,435.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total transaction of $359,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,284 shares in the company, valued at $7,291,435.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $706,526.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,222.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,806,063. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $71.05 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $68.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.83. The company has a market cap of $77.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.49. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, December 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.46.

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.