Trustmark National Bank Trust Department Buys 7,320 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Trustmark National Bank Trust Department boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,320 shares during the quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department's holdings in Southern were worth $7,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Southern by 31.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.27.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $87.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $89.78 and a 200-day moving average of $84.57. The company has a market cap of $96.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

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