Trustmark National Bank Trust Department Sells 4,610 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Trustmark National Bank Trust Department decreased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,610 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department's holdings in Southern were worth $6,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.00.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $1.22 on Friday, hitting $91.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,461,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,528,453. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $70.70 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $100.88 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.33.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.