The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $326,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 199.5% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC now owns 17,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Stolper Co grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Stolper Co now owns 24,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,018,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 12,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $82.34 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.96 and a 200-day moving average of $86.19.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern 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.