Sound Income Strategies LLC Acquires 521 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 102.9% in the 4th quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC now owns 5,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 2,999 shares during the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 9,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $772,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $459,000. Finally, FCG Investment Co lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 32,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,634,000 after acquiring an additional 5,090 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE SO opened at $83.50 on Friday. 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 Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.35. The company has a market cap of $91.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

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.