Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,476 shares during the period. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’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 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 represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $82.23 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 Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $90.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $84.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS 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.