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

First PREMIER Bank decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 810 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up 1.8% of First PREMIER Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 52,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,283,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 381,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,393,000 after buying an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in Southern by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 3,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim upped their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $82.51 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.40. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market cap of $90.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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.