Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 270,267 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 11,295 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $22,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Syverson Strege & Co grew its position in Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,381,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 6,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Southern Trading Up 0.9 %
Shares of SO stock traded up $0.86 on Monday, reaching $91.99. The company had a trading volume of 2,927,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,491,278. The company has a 50-day moving average of $87.34 and a 200-day moving average of $87.24. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $100.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.
Southern Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.
Read Our Latest Report on SO
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
About Southern
(
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.
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