RDA Financial Network Purchases 1,722 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

RDA Financial Network increased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,722 shares during the quarter. RDA Financial Network’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after buying an additional 5,589 shares during the period. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $326,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,033,000 after acquiring an additional 140,151 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $83.86 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.16. 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 $91.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52.

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