Capital International Inc. CA Grows Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Capital International Inc. CA increased its stake in Southern Company by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 42,286 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 523,474 shares valued at about $45.6 million.
• Southern’s CEO Kimberly S. Greene and EVP Christopher Cummiskey both sold shares in recent insider transactions, reducing their direct ownership positions by roughly 19.4% and 17.8%, respectively.
• The utility reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.32 per share on revenue of $8.40 billion, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share, boosting the annualized yield to 3.3%.

Capital International Inc. CA grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 523,474 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 42,286 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA's holdings in Southern were worth $45,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Gentry Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Southern by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,534 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,188,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,446 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 28,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,724,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of SO opened at $92.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $94.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.83. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two 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 cap of $104.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Seven equities research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.38.

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.

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