Tradewinds LLC. Buys Shares of 11,407 Southern Company (The) $SO

Tradewinds LLC. purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 11,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,725,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694,066 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,377,494,000 after acquiring an additional 241,572 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth about $1,179,715,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $621,567,000 after buying an additional 87,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,011,000 after buying an additional 4,373,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.03.

Southern Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of SO opened at $89.00 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.46. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $82.05 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.86.

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

About Southern

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.