StoneX Group Inc. Has $7.97 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

StoneX Group Inc. grew its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 50.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,766 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 32,559 shares during the quarter. StoneX Group Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $7,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Southern by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 170,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,303,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2,078.6% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 152,675 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,769,000 after purchasing an additional 145,667 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 6.5% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at $232,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 20,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,854,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 23.16 % 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 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $92.44. The company had a trading volume of 6,392,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,518,173. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $101.38 billion, a PE ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.83 and a 200 day moving average of $87.31. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 71.82%.

About Southern

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.