Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC Buys 827 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 827 shares during the period. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Southern Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $86.59 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.50. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. 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 report on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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.