Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 23.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,901 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,813,000. Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Southern by 24.7% during the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after buying an additional 6,843 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.6% in the second quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 7,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 700.6% in the second quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 161,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,841,000 after buying an additional 141,430 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in Southern by 5.5% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 822,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $75,521,000 after buying an additional 42,531 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, December 11th. BTIG Research started coverage on Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Southern from $107.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.56.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $88.94 on Thursday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $82.05 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $87.74 and a 200-day moving average of $91.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $97.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Company 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.