MKT Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

MKT Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. MKT Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth about $6,161,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,475,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,445,000 after purchasing an additional 15,076 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 7.8% in the second quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 40.6% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 5,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $468,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $83.50 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $84.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.39. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $91.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SO. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price 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. Scotiabank increased their price target 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, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average 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.