TruWealth Advisors LLC Has $448,000 Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

TruWealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 204 shares during the quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in Southern by 7.3% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 75,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,822,000 after buying an additional 5,109 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 116.3% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 3,768 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 82,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 49.4% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 82,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,426,000 after purchasing an additional 27,397 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $83.92 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.70 and its 200-day moving average is $86.25. 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 Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price 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. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern 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.