The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Wiser Wealth Management Inc

Wiser Wealth Management Inc lifted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for approximately 0.3% of Wiser Wealth Management Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Wiser Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $82.15 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $84.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.19. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $90.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52.

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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

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.