Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. Takes Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $105,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim upped their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $82.51 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $90.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for 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%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. 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.