CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Has $983,000 Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 225 shares during the quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 17,272.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Southern by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $577,657,000 after acquiring an additional 52,414 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 72.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $83.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $84.28 and a 200-day moving average of $86.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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