Advocate Group LLC Sells 1,391 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Advocate Group LLC lessened its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 93,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,391 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $83.50 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $91.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

About Southern

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.