Zhang Financial LLC Sells 405 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Zhang Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 405 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,444,343,000 after purchasing an additional 352,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $694,953,000 after acquiring an additional 163,986 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Southern by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $634,988,000 after acquiring an additional 349,122 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,988 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $72.15 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.02 and a 200-day moving average of $69.05.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 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 company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.07.

Southern Company 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.