Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd

Key Points

• Swiss Life Asset Management reduced its Southern Company stake by 7% in the fourth quarter, selling 17,977 shares and ending with 239,402 shares valued at about $20.9 million.
• Southern reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $1.32 versus estimates of $1.21 and revenue of $8.40 billion versus $8.07 billion expected; revenue also rose 8% year over year.
• The company raised its dividend to $0.76 per quarter from $0.74, implying an annualized payout of $3.04 and a yield of 3.3%.

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 239,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,977 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Southern were worth $20,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Weiss Ratings raised Southern from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $99.85.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $93.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $104.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $95.67 and a 200-day moving average of $91.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.32%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

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