The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by GoalVest Advisory LLC

GoalVest Advisory LLC lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $82.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $84.56 and its 200 day moving average is $86.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim upped their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

About Southern

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.