Davis Capital Management Cuts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Davis Capital Management decreased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 43.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,483 shares during the period. Davis Capital Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,772,000 after acquiring an additional 5,589 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,626,000 after acquiring an additional 5,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,033,000 after acquiring an additional 140,151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $84.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $92.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.36. 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 one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45.

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

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

About Southern

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.