Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Trims Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 49.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,597 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,953 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE's holdings in Southern were worth $1,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 5.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 15,595 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,406,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Southern by 40.8% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,392,000 after acquiring an additional 7,694 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 44.8% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 31,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,871,000 after acquiring an additional 9,855 shares during the period. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the third quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 40,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $91.50. 2,030,302 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,486,688. The company's 50 day moving average is $87.34 and its 200 day moving average is $87.24. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.36 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Profile

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.