Verity & Verity LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 201,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,434 shares during the period. Southern makes up about 1.5% of Verity & Verity LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $16,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth about $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased 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. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.14.

Southern Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.03 on Friday, hitting $83.92. 5,406,741 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,442,785. The company has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.25. 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 Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.