Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 338,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,232 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 1.4% of GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $29,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Southern by 320.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after buying an additional 25,567,431 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Southern by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $808,628,000 after purchasing an additional 285,546 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.38.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $89.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.47 and a 200 day moving average of $91.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Southern Company 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.