Farmers Trust Co. Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Farmers Trust Co. grew its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 31.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,605 shares during the quarter. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 29,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $279,000. Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 21,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $1.49 on Wednesday, reaching $82.58. 5,145,175 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,348,842. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average is $85.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.05. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.