Savant Capital LLC Decreases Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Savant Capital LLC cut its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 218,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,531 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $19,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Southern by 320.3% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after buying an additional 25,567,431 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Southern by 3.5% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $808,628,000 after buying an additional 285,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,265,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,938,000 after buying an additional 255,230 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.56.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE SO opened at $92.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $104.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.70 and a 200 day moving average of $91.84. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. 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 data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Southern 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.