Westside Investment Management Inc. Raises Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 229 shares during the quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 158,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,315,000 after acquiring an additional 14,648 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $509,000. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $604,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Southern by 50.0% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 185,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,384,000 after buying an additional 61,771 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 12.4% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $84.05 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.56 and a 200 day moving average of $86.40. 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 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

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.