Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC Buys New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $573,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 0.8% in the third 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 lifted its stake in 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 grew its holdings in Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Up 0.0 %

Southern stock opened at $83.92 on Monday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $84.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.31. The company has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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