Mutual Advisors LLC Has $2.75 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,443 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 52,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,283,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Southern by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 381,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,393,000 after acquiring an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 3,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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 downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $82.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $90.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

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.