Southern Company (The) $SO Stock Holdings Increased by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 16.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 599,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,942 shares during the quarter. Southern makes up approximately 1.1% of Sterling Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $57,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Spirepoint Private Client LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 97,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after acquiring an additional 11,460 shares in the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,443,000. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its position in shares of Southern by 243.3% in the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 20,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,753 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,462,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Seaport Research Partners cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.26.

Southern Trading Up 1.1%

SO stock opened at $97.00 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.33. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.