Rise Advisors LLC Purchases 230 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $520,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $88.96 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $64.53 and a twelve month high of $91.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $88.31 and a 200-day moving average of $81.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. 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.