Trek Financial LLC Has $4.25 Million Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Trek Financial LLC boosted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 21.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,053 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after buying an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,377,494,000 after acquiring an additional 241,572 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at $1,179,715,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $621,567,000 after purchasing an additional 87,891 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.91.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $87.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,483,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,266,833. The stock has a market cap of $96.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.46. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $82.05 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $87.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.75.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.