Farther Finance Advisors LLC Buys 61,298 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake by 99.1%, buying 61,298 shares to own 123,122 shares of Southern Company valued at about $10.736 million.
• Corporate insiders trimmed holdings: CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares (a 19.44% reduction in her stake) and EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares, with insiders now owning 0.16% of the stock.
• Street view is a consensus "Hold" with an average price target of $98.69; Southern reported revenue up 10.1% but missed EPS by $0.01 and currently yields about 3.1%.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 99.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,122 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 61,298 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $10,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,414,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,084,885,000 after acquiring an additional 510,080 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position 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 during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Southern by 3.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $808,628,000 after acquiring an additional 285,546 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its position 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 during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Southern by 1.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 2,904,697 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $275,277,000 after acquiring an additional 53,641 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $94.69 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $95.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $106.85 billion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 75.32%.

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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