The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 26.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 33,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Southern by 17,272.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 14,562,689 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 8,741.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485,816 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 72.4% in the third 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.6% during 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 buying an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $51,605,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. One research 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $83.50 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market cap of $91.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $84.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.35.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.