RIA Advisory Group LLC Has $445,000 Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

RIA Advisory Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 55.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,921 shares during the quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $435,979,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $369,131,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 5,840.2% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,949,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $194,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $1.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $72.15. 6,463,611 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,662,146. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.92 and its 200-day moving average is $68.99. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.80.

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