Allstate Corp Purchases 42,733 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Allstate Corp increased its stake in Southern Company by 105.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 42,733 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 83,367 shares valued at about $7.27 million.
• Southern reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.32 versus estimates of $1.21 and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 8% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share, implying an annualized payout of $3.04 and a yield of 3.2%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $99.56 average price target.

Allstate Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 105.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,367 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 42,733 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp's holdings in Southern were worth $7,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Southern by 320.3% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,179,425,000 after acquiring an additional 25,567,431 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Southern by 83.8% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $376,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,422,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1,518.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,044,101 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $95,880,000 after purchasing an additional 979,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 790.6% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 811,737 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $74,542,000 after purchasing an additional 720,589 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Truist Financial began coverage on Southern in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen boosted 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. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $99.56.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $94.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.81. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

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.

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