Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. reduced its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 149,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 65,880 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $14,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Tanglewood Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $220,000. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. boosted its position in Southern by 12.9% during the third quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. now owns 3,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 1.5% in the third quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 31,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,001,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Finally, Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $97.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Southern in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.56.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $87.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $87.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.78. The company has a market cap of $96.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.46. Southern Company has a one year low of $82.05 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.