Altus Wealth Management LLC Has $313,000 Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Altus Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Altus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 3.7 %

NYSE SO opened at $86.59 on Tuesday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.50. 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 company has a market capitalization of $94.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction 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 approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

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.