Grimes & Company Inc. Trims Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Grimes & Company Inc. trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,375 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3.8% in the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 5.8% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 4.5% during the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 4.3% during the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern 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 owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $83.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.