Latitude Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 2,904 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Latitude Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $435,979,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $369,131,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC raised its position in Southern by 5,840.2% in the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,949,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $194,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Southern by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $69.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $76.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $68.84 and its 200 day moving average is $68.98.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, 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 Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. 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 restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.07.

About Southern

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.