OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC has acquired a new position in Southern Company, purchasing 5,551 shares valued at approximately $510,000 in the 1st quarter.
• Insider trading activity showed CEO Kimberly S. Greene selling 13,158 shares at an average price of $95, decreasing her ownership by 12.32%.
• Southern Company recently reported earnings of $0.91 per share, missing estimates, but achieved a 7.9% increase in revenue year-over-year, totaling $6.97 billion.

OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,551 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,582,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $889,490,000 after acquiring an additional 460,594 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $614,297,000 after acquiring an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $510,229,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $428,794,000 after acquiring an additional 979,756 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 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 this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. 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 research note on Thursday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.29.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $94.80 on Thursday. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44. The firm has a market cap of $104.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. The business's fifty day moving average is $92.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis 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.

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