The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Bought by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 138,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,662 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Prudential PLC raised its stake in Southern by 23.4% in the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 3,689 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Southern by 33.5% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Southern by 63.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 35.8% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,776,000 after purchasing an additional 239,325 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $71.14. 546,359 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,583,035. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.