RDA Financial Network Raises Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

RDA Financial Network grew its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,722 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Southern by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,380,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $184,694,000 after buying an additional 297,012 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 24.6% in the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,734,000 after acquiring an additional 4,411 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Southern by 6.5% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 251,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,507,000 after purchasing an additional 15,362 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its stake in Southern by 40.1% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 17,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 4,990 shares during the period. Finally, Argent Trust Co lifted its holdings in Southern by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 46,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 5,733 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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 increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $83.86 on Friday. 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 Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $91.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $84.86 and its 200 day moving average is $86.16.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

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.