Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 120,816 Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Southern Company by 4.1%, acquiring an additional 120,816 shares, representing approximately 0.28% of the company valued at about $280 million.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the company's stock, decreasing her ownership by 12.32% and totaling approximately $1.25 million.
• Southern Company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74, with an annualized total of $2.96 and a yield of 3.14%, to be paid out on September 8th.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 120,816 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.28% of Southern worth $280,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 4.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 398,624 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,815,000 after buying an additional 15,923 shares in the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 145.6% in the first quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 28,286 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,601,000 after buying an additional 16,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 70.4% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 847 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.20.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.69 on Friday, hitting $95.17. The company had a trading volume of 4,675,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,180,246. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $96.44. The stock has a market cap of $104.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $91.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.