Wolverine Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Wolverine Asset Management acquired a new stake of 28,237 shares in Southern Company during Q4, valued at approximately $2.46 million.
• Southern's CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares (≈$2.42M) on March 30, reducing her stake by 19.44%, and EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares (≈$643,892), indicating insider selling.
• Southern beat Q1 estimates with EPS of $1.32 vs. $1.21 and revenue of $8.40B (up 8% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 (ex-dividend May 18; annualized $3.04, ~3.2% yield).

Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 28,237 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,462,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $95.97 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $95.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $108.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.36. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on SO. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.85.

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.

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.