Koshinski Asset Management Inc. Buys 295 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim raised 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $84.72 on Wednesday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $92.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

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.