Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. Has $475,000 Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its position in Southern by 1.8% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 5.8% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $82.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.19. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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.