Brighton Jones LLC Decreases Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Brighton Jones LLC cut its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Montecito Bank & Trust grew its stake in Southern by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 9,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $459,000. FCG Investment Co boosted its position in Southern by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 32,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,634,000 after buying an additional 5,090 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 5,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value 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 approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Barclays upped 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. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $83.50 on Friday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.39. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $91.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.