Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Decreases Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lessened its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,344 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 120.1% during the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on SO. Truist Financial set a $103.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.08.

Southern Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $93.49 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.44. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

About Southern

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.