Invesco Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. decreased its stake in Southern Company by 6.5%, selling 345,850 shares, and now holds 4,979,444 shares valued at approximately $457.86 million.
• Southern Company reported earnings per share of $0.91 for the last quarter, which missed analysts' expectations of $0.99, despite a revenue increase of 7.9% year-over-year.
• The company is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.74, which equates to an annual yield of 3.1%, with a payout ratio of 76.09%.

Invesco Ltd. cut its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,979,444 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 345,850 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.45% of Southern worth $457,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Southern by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 46,501 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,827,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Southern by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 599 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 30,166 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,893,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 265,062 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $21,820,000 after purchasing an additional 23,905 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.54 during trading on Thursday, reaching $94.25. The stock had a trading volume of 5,252,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,203,480. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $92.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.04. The stock has a market cap of $103.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Southern 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.