Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Buys 10,139 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 155,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,139 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $12,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $577,657,000 after purchasing an additional 52,414 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Southern by 0.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, 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 at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $82.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $84.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.38. 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 Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share 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 business 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 posted $1.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays increased their price target 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus 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.