The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 155,968 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,139 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $12,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake 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 purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE SO opened at $82.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year 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. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.38.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.