ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Has $7.95 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC lowered its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 254 shares during the quarter. Southern comprises approximately 1.1% of ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the 3rd 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 lifted its holdings 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 worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SO. 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $82.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 287,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,162,933. The stock has a market cap of $90.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $84.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.19.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 at 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.