First United Bank & Trust Buys 831 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First United Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:SO opened at $83.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.31.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank lifted 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

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.