Peoples Financial Services CORP. Sells 200 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $435,979,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $369,131,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 586.3% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 5,564,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $387,157,000 after purchasing an additional 4,753,465 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Southern by 162.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,572,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $457,306,000 after purchasing an additional 4,067,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 150.3% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,617,965 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $390,896,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.30, for a total transaction of $341,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,569.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $99,904.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,878,289.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.30, for a total value of $341,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,569.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,490 shares of company stock worth $2,934,355 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “conviction-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Southern from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Southern from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.13.

Southern Trading Up 0.3 %

Southern stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $71.09. The stock had a trading volume of 7,353,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,070,562. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $58.85 and a 12 month high of $78.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 9.86% and a net margin of 11.17%. The business had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.94%.

Southern Company Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. 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.