Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Increases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,068 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,078 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $7,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Southern by 3.8% during the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 4.5% in the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 4.3% during the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Southern 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 value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $3.11 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $86.59. The company had a trading volume of 7,699,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,137,875. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $84.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.50. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. 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 company has a market capitalization of $94.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.14.

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.