The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Sky Investment Group LLC

Sky Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 81,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 757 shares during the period. Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 17,272.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 14,562,689 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $577,657,000 after buying an additional 52,414 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after buying an additional 1,293,072 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $83.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.31. The company has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly 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. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SO. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.