Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Increases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 121,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,688 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its stake 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 during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:SO opened at $83.22 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $91.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.38.

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

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s 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. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently 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.