American Financial Advisors LLC Raises Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

American Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. American Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $1,945,000. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $301,000. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,795,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.07.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $1.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.15. 6,549,252 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,663,273. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.99. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.80. The stock has a market cap of $78.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS 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.