Stolper Co Grows Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Stolper Co increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Stolper Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $54,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

SO stock opened at $82.34 on Thursday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $84.96 and a 200-day moving average of $86.19. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern 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 owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.