Forsta AP Fonden Acquires 80,600 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 24.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 415,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 80,600 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Southern were worth $36,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.38.

Southern Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $92.06 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company has a market cap of $103.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $94.61 and its 200 day moving average is $91.84.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. 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 return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 yield of 3.3%. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

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.