Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Increased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has increased its stake in Southern Company by 6.7%, acquiring an additional 68,617 shares to own a total of 1,097,935 shares valued at approximately $100.96 million.
• Southern Company reported robust quarterly earnings, reporting an EPS of $1.23 which beat estimates and a revenue of $7.78 billion, a year-over-year increase of 17%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, translating to an annualized amount of $2.96 with a yield of 3.11%, set to be paid on September 8th.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,097,935 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 68,617 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.10% of Southern worth $100,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Southern by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $280,107,000 after purchasing an additional 120,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,617,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $240,684,000 after purchasing an additional 22,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.27.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.96. 7,489,439 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,934,255. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.74. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. The company has a market cap of $104.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $91.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.41.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern's payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

About Southern

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.