Financial Enhancement Group LLC Makes New Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 34.7% in the third 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 bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 199.5% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SO. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $82.34 on Thursday. 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 Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.19.

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

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern 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 value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.