GoalVest Advisory LLC Has $1.08 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

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

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Trading Down 2.6 %

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

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This 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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.