Financial Advisors LLC Takes $319,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its position in Southern by 3.8% during the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 4.3% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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 lifted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Southern Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $83.92 on Friday. 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 cap of $91.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.25.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict 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.