The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 53,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,254 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Woodstock Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 41,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,443,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 20,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 292,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,095,000 after purchasing an additional 25,200 shares in the last quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Southern by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 6,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Cvfg LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $535,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $83.92 on Friday. 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 Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.19. The stock has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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 is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

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.