Marietta Investment Partners LLC Purchases 17,866 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Marietta Investment Partners LLC has increased its holdings in Southern Company by 443.5%, raising its stake to 21,894 shares valued at approximately $2.01 million.
• Southern Company's CEO, Kimberly S. Greene, sold 13,158 shares of the stock, decreasing her ownership by 12.32%, though she still owns shares worth about $8.9 million.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.10%.

Marietta Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 443.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,894 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,866 shares during the quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $2,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SO. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Southern by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Southern by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Southern by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,815,000 after purchasing an additional 15,923 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 16,464.2% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 31,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 31,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,247,000 after purchasing an additional 9,218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.88 on Tuesday, hitting $95.18. The company had a trading volume of 5,217,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,123,659. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.97 and a 200-day moving average of $89.15.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors 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 yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.53.

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.