Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 29,459 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its Southern Company stake by 268.8% in the first quarter, buying 29,459 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 40,419 shares worth about $3.9 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 64.10%, with several other large investors also increasing positions, while CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares in a transaction worth about $2.4 million.
• Southern reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $1.32 versus $1.21 expected and revenue of $8.40 billion, and it raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share for a 3.2% yield.

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 268.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,419 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 29,459 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $3,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors increased its position in Southern by 320.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after purchasing an additional 25,567,431 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,111,450,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business'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 in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on SO. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a research report on Monday. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.26.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:SO opened at $95.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.44 and a 200 day moving average of $92.23.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. 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. Southern's payout ratio is 77.35%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.