J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Purchases 3,646 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,021 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,646 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank lifted 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 buying an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 in the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $72.15 on Friday. 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 PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $69.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.09. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SO. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped 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 objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.