First County Bank CT Has $1.82 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

First County Bank CT trimmed its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 23,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,720 shares during the period. Southern accounts for about 0.9% of First County Bank CT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,475,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,445,000 after acquiring an additional 15,076 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,161,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 9.2% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,679,000 after buying an additional 2,901 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at $8,298,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at $3,766,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.5 %

SO opened at $88.93 on Friday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $90.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $86.89 and its 200 day moving average is $79.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.60.

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.