Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC Takes $275,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Western Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,372,000 after buying an additional 1,352 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 218,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 138,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,704,000 after acquiring an additional 8,662 shares during the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $219,000. Finally, Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $843,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE SO traded up $0.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $70.57. 4,601,057 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,638,117. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $77.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.98.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.07.

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.