Cvfg LLC Purchases Shares of 6,500 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cvfg LLC bought a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $535,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 8,741.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,485,816 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Southern by 2,719.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,670,000 after buying an additional 841,435 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SO. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Up 0.0 %

SO traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $83.92. 5,406,741 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,658,440. The stock has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 2.77 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $84.70 and its two-hundred day 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. 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 business posted $1.42 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.