Clarendon Private LLC Invests $450,000 in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Clarendon Private LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $450,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 127,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 27,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,245,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 6,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 9,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Nikulski Financial Inc. increased its position in Southern by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $83.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $91.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $84.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.39. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays increased 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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, Morgan Stanley cut 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.