Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by State Street Corp

State Street Corp decreased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 40.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,490,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 41,214,229 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 5.58% of Southern worth $5,361,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 128,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,237,000 after buying an additional 1,462 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 32,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,864,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. First National Bank of Omaha lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 181.8% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Omaha now owns 107,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,390,000 after buying an additional 69,305 shares during the period. Alchemi Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $348,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 922,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,447,000 after buying an additional 62,419 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:SO opened at $93.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.95.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

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.