The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by RFG Advisory LLC

RFG Advisory LLC cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 107,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,244 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew 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 buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Trading Down 0.4 %

Southern stock opened at $82.23 on Friday. 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 Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $84.46 and its 200-day moving average is $86.38. The company has a market cap of $90.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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.