Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 45.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,809 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $4,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 199.5% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 647 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on 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 target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE 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 3,442,785. The business's 50 day moving average is $84.70 and its 200-day moving average is $86.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a P/E 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through 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.