Wesbanco Bank Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 51,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 819 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Southern by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 8,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 14,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $987,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $437,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $89.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $98.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52. 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 Southern Company has a 1 year low of $64.53 and a 1 year high of $91.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $88.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.20.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.27.

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.