Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 23.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,901 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 275.0% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Advantage Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.56.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $88.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $82.05 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $87.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.81. The company has a market cap of $97.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.