Red Door Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Red Door Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 2,137 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $105,000. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 32,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,750,000 after purchasing an additional 4,443 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 52,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,283,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Southern by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 381,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,393,000 after buying an additional 2,287 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.4 %

SO stock opened at $82.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. 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 50 day moving average of $84.46 and a 200 day moving average of $86.38.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.