South Plains Financial Inc. acquired a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 11,374 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $936,000.
Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after buying an additional 698,422 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,288,000 after purchasing an additional 194,114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Southern Trading Up 0.6 %
NYSE:SO opened at $91.97 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $101.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $90.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $73.20 and a 52 week high of $94.45.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.06. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Southern Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.82%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Southern
In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of analysts have commented on SO shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.54.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Southern
Southern Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Stories
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report).
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Southern, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Southern wasn't on the list.
While Southern currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of ten stocks that are set to soar in Spring 2025, despite the threat of tariffs and other economic uncertainty. These ten stocks are incredibly resilient and are likely to thrive in any economic environment.
Get This Free Report
