Jennison Associates LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 30.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,779,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 786,655 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.16% of Southern worth $168,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 275.0% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Advantage Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Southern in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.91.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $87.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $82.05 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $96.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.75.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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.