PFG Investments LLC Sells 354 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

PFG Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 27,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 354 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $83.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $91.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its 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 company 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised 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. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

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.