M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Makes New $243,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SOFree Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 49.4% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 82,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,426,000 after purchasing an additional 27,397 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 8,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Southern by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 2.8% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank raised 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. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective 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. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

View Our Latest Report on Southern

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $83.92 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.31. 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 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SOGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

About Southern

(Free Report)

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.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Southern Company (NYSE:SOFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Southern (NYSE:SO)

Receive News & Ratings for Southern Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southern and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.