Federated Hermes Inc. Decreases Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,925,477 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 27,186 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.27% of Southern worth $240,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 11,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 157,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,924,000 after purchasing an additional 45,500 shares in the last quarter. Rahlfs Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,494,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,752,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,439,594 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $200,827,000 after purchasing an additional 72,370 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SO. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Southern Stock Performance

SO traded up $0.85 on Friday, reaching $89.74. 1,100,250 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,544,297. The company's 50-day moving average price is $88.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Company 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.