Bangor Savings Bank Has $1.77 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 2.1% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 109,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,459,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 6.5% in the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 9.0% in the second quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 39,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in Southern by 38.3% during the second quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 7,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 19.8% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 24,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,892,000 after acquiring an additional 4,028 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:SO opened at $80.77 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 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’s fifty day moving average is $85.83 and its 200-day moving average is $86.03. The firm has a market cap of $88.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

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.