Cambridge Trust Co. Has $504,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cambridge Trust Co. decreased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 151 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, CNB Bank boosted its holdings in Southern by 1,021.4% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of SO opened at $70.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.99. The firm has a market cap of $77.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.07.

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.