Goldstone Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Goldstone Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Southern by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,380,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $184,694,000 after acquiring an additional 297,012 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,734,000 after purchasing an additional 4,411 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 6.5% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 251,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,507,000 after buying an additional 15,362 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Southern by 40.1% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 17,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 4,990 shares during the period. Finally, Argent Trust Co raised its stake in Southern by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 46,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,619,000 after acquiring an additional 5,733 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $83.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.86 and a 200 day moving average of $86.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.