1834 Investment Advisors Co. Has $1.05 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

1834 Investment Advisors Co. decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 225 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Novare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 6,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 4,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Clarendon Private LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $450,000. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 127,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,487,000 after buying an additional 1,759 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas grew its stake in Southern by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 27,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $83.50 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $91.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.28 and a 200-day moving average of $86.39. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern 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 transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.