Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Decreases Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 223,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,890 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $18,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Southern by 17,272.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,562,689 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $577,657,000 after acquiring an additional 52,414 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $292,679,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on 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 price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of SO traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $83.92. 5,406,741 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,442,785. The stock's 50-day moving average is $84.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.25. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. 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 stock has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern 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.