First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,427 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.5 %

SO stock opened at $83.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. 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 Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus 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.