Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Sells 2,277 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lessened its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 32,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,277 shares during the period. Southern makes up approximately 1.5% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $319,000. TruWealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Southern by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 109,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,974,000 after buying an additional 5,013 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE SO opened at $83.92 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.25. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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.