Cambridge Trust Co. Cuts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cambridge Trust Co. decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 151 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,945,000. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $301,000. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $3,795,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.07.

Southern Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE SO opened at $70.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.99. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.