Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC Sells 129 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 199.5% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Southern Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE SO opened at $83.86 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $84.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $91.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.