Rockland Trust Co. Sells 2,309 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Rockland Trust Co. lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,309 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of SO opened at $82.15 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.19. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $90.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern 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.