The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by SVB Wealth LLC

SVB Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,444,343,000 after acquiring an additional 352,023 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,953,000 after purchasing an additional 163,986 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,988,000 after buying an additional 349,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after buying an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SO. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.07.

Southern Trading Up 1.1 %

Southern stock opened at $70.57 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.99.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.