Woodstock Corp Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Woodstock Corp lifted its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the quarter. Woodstock Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Southern by 62.0% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $88.96 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $97.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52. 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 1 year low of $64.53 and a 1 year high of $91.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $88.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.07.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.27.

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.