Acropolis Investment Management LLC Sells 200 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Acropolis Investment Management LLC cut its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Southern by 14.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,380,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,694,000 after acquiring an additional 297,012 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Southern by 71.8% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 17,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 7,522 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,734,000 after buying an additional 4,411 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Southern by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 251,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,507,000 after buying an additional 15,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its stake in Southern by 40.1% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 17,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after buying an additional 4,990 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

Southern stock opened at $82.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly 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. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.