Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,092,554 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 33,729 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Southern worth $100,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Southern by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $889,490,000 after buying an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% in 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 during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $280,107,000 after acquiring an additional 120,816 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 0.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,617,558 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $240,684,000 after purchasing an additional 22,803 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp downgraded 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. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.29.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Southern
Southern Stock Performance
NYSE:SO opened at $94.96 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $104.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $91.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.50. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Southern Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 76.09%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Southern
In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents 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 available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Southern Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report).

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