Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 751,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,185 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Southern worth $69,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in Southern during the first quarter valued at $39,000. Elequin Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Southern by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.93.

Southern Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $91.66. The stock had a trading volume of 3,433,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,674,066. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $77.62 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $100.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.38. The business's fifty day moving average price is $89.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.90. 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 data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

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.