The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 28.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,909 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,309 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $3,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. abrdn plc grew its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 436,642 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,656,000 after acquiring an additional 11,909 shares during the period. Longboard Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 4,617 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $186,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its position in shares of Southern by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 5,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.64.

Southern Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $88.28. 6,725,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,531,172. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.29. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.96 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Company 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.