Xponance Inc. Purchases 8,662 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $843,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its stake in shares of Southern by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 3,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 22,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 11,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $829,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.8 %

SO stock traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.14. 546,359 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,583,035. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.80. 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 company has a market cap of $77.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $68.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.99.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (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 issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.