AE Wealth Management LLC Sells 4,151 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in Southern Company by 8.7%, now owning 43,805 shares valued at approximately $4.03 million.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern at an average price of $95.00, decreasing her position by 12.32%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" on Southern Company shares, with a target price averaging $93.53, indicating mixed sentiment on the stock's future performance.

AE Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 8.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,805 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,151 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $4,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 23.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Southern by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,815,000 after purchasing an additional 15,923 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 16,464.2% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 31,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 31,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,247,000 after buying an additional 9,218 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.53.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $94.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,234,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,093,708. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44. The company has a market capitalization of $104.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's fifty day moving average is $90.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.15.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The business's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Profile

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.