The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Stolper Co

Stolper Co boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Stolper Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Southern by 17,272.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $577,657,000 after buying an additional 52,414 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in 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 period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $82.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal 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.