Mechanics Bank Trust Department Trims Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department lowered its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 335 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 6.9% during the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 82,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,426,000 after buying an additional 27,397 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 8,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 10.3% in the second quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.0 %

SO opened at $83.92 on Monday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.31.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company 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 was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim upped 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. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

About Southern

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.