5,877 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO Bought by Greg Jennings LLC

Greg Jennings LLC acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.4% in the third quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 10,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Kondo Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $782,000. First Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 37,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,138,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Pictet & Cie SA bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,668,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $114.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.47.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $1.88 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $89.30. 5,207,214 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,846,544. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.14. The company has a market capitalization of $102.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.31. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $81.69 and a 52-week high of $99.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.