Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC Sells 7,705 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,705 shares during the quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 241,572 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $1,179,715,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $621,567,000 after buying an additional 87,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.97 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.85. The stock has a market cap of $97.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.46. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $82.05 and a 12-month high of $100.83. 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 (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results 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. 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 company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Southern from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Southern from $107.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.26.

Southern 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.