Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. Grows Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,759 shares during the period. Southern accounts for about 1.5% of Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,161,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,475,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $114,445,000 after acquiring an additional 15,076 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 7.8% during the second quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its holdings in Southern by 40.6% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 5,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $468,000. 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 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. 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 cut 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE 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 50-day simple moving average of $84.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.39. 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 Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month 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, 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

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.