Mutual Advisors LLC Acquires 4,443 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,443 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $82.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.46 and its 200 day moving average is $86.38. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Company 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.