Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Stolper Co grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Stolper Co now owns 24,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,018,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $95,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 5,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Anglin Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 6,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 2,241 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

Southern stock opened at $82.34 on Thursday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.19.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Insider Transactions at Southern

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 approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company 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.