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

RFG Advisory LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 8,741.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,524,000 after buying an additional 1,485,816 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $51,605,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $82.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $90.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.38.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lifted 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

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.