Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $79.93 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in Southern Company by 3.0%, now holding 869,272 shares valued at approximately $79.93 million.
• CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern Company, which resulted in a 12.32% decrease in her ownership of the company.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a miss on EPS estimates, with $0.91 reported against the $0.99 expectation, despite revenue growth of 7.9% year-over-year.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 869,272 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 27,051 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Southern worth $79,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Southern by 11,230.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,965 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Southern by 562.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Southern by 23.2% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Southern by 2,780.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,628 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,423,000 after acquiring an additional 676,302 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $94.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,656,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,501,037. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $96.44. The stock has a market cap of $104.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $91.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.61.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given 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 is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 76.09%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.29.

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.