Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. Cuts Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,476 shares during the period. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 8,741.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485,816 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 4.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,605,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $82.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $84.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.38. 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.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.