Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $24.10 Million Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 292,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 25,200 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $24,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the third quarter worth about $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,033,000 after purchasing an additional 140,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $292,679,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Southern Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $83.92. 5,406,741 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,442,785. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.25. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.