The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Nepsis Inc.

Nepsis Inc. cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 48,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,091 shares during the period. Southern accounts for approximately 0.6% of Nepsis Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Nepsis Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE SO opened at $83.50 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $91.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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 dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised 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, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

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.