Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Purchases 5,856 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 158,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,856 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $15,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Advantage Trust Co raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.52 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $96.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $82.05 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.60 and a 200 day moving average of $91.75.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued 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 $94.91.

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.