Gray Wealth Management Inc. Sells 306 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Gray Wealth Management Inc. lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 306 shares during the period. Gray Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank increased its position in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.07.

Southern Stock Up 1.4 %

SO stock traded up $0.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $71.54. 1,014,572 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,586,315. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.99. The company has a market capitalization of $78.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 over the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Profile

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.