Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Buys New Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, CNB Bank increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $72.15 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $69.02 and a 200 day moving average of $69.09. The company has a market capitalization of $78.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49. 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.

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 firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during 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 business’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of 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 issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.