Southern Company (The) $SO Stock Holdings Decreased by Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.

Key Points

• Capital Group Private Client Services cut its stake in Southern Company by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter, selling 27,819 shares and leaving 6,615 shares valued at about $627,000.
• Market consensus remains a Hold with a $98.08 price target, though analyst views vary (six Buys, twelve Holds, one Sell) and recent brokerage notes range from Sell to Buy.
• Southern reported quarterly EPS of $0.55 (missing the $0.56 estimate) while revenue beat at $6.98 billion, and it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.74 (annual yield ~3.1%) with a payout ratio of ~75.3%.

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 27,819 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Southern by 17.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,438,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,039,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the second quarter worth about $419,000. Finally, Aviva PLC raised its stake in Southern by 4.3% during the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 18,714 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,719,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on Southern and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $103.00 target price on Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.08.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $96.25 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business's 50 day moving average is $91.18 and its 200-day moving average is $91.48. The stock has a market cap of $105.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.44. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.32%.

Southern 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.