Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Grows Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 121,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,688 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at $8,298,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Southern by 9.2% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,679,000 after buying an additional 2,901 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,161,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,475,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $114,445,000 after acquiring an additional 15,076 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:SO opened at $83.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share 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.