Southern Company (The) $SO Stock: Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Raises Position

Key Points

• Prime Capital Investment Advisors increased its Southern Company position by 27.6% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 57,375 shares valued at approximately $4.76 million. Institutional investors collectively own 64.1% of SO.
• Analysts remain cautious, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $98.24. Recent target reductions include JPMorgan at $94, Barclays at $92, and Jefferies at $95, while Citigroup maintained a “Buy” rating with a $104 target.
• SO shares opened at $90.72 and were trading up 1.6%, while Southern’s latest quarterly results beat earnings expectations with EPS of $1.13 versus the $1.01 consensus estimate, despite revenue falling short of forecasts.

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 27.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,375 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 12,408 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $4,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Uptick Partners LLC boosted its position in Southern by 1.5% during the first quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Southern by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG raised its holdings in Southern by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,657 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays dropped their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Southern from $114.00 to $104.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.24.

Southern Trading Up 1.6%

SO stock opened at $90.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $104.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.05. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $81.69 and a 52 week high of $99.58.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

About Southern

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern's electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company's generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.

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