Missouri Trust & Investment Co Buys 126 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Missouri Trust & Investment Co increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 23.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 126 shares during the quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $55,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $84.72 on Wednesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $92.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.36. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.