First PREMIER Bank Sells 810 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First PREMIER Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 85,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 810 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for approximately 1.8% of First PREMIER Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Southern by 3.8% during the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Southern by 5.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 4.5% during the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on SO. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $82.51 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $90.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued 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. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.