The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Investment Planning Advisors Inc.

Investment Planning Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the quarter. Investment Planning Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $288,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 168.1% during the third 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 lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $86.59 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $94.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $84.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.50. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.