Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 490 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 490 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 period. 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 period. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth about $54,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $83.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $84.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.31.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

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.