Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $930,000. Southern makes up approximately 0.7% of Kingsman Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 70.4% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. William Allan Corp raised its position in Southern by 11.5% in the first quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 9,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 821.4% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 68,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,312,000 after buying an additional 61,194 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC now owns 5,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 14,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.20.

Southern Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE SO opened at $94.36 on Monday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $94.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $90.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $103.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share 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.