United Bank Boosts Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

United Bank raised its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,656 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,032 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for approximately 1.9% of United Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. United Bank's holdings in Southern were worth $4,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 89.4% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 607,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $50,043,000 after buying an additional 286,996 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Southern by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 44,155 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,635,000 after purchasing an additional 18,160 shares during the period. BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,654 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,767 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,247,000 after purchasing an additional 9,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Biondo Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 133,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,978,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $91.82. 4,175,381 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,507,218. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $87.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.27. 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 Southern Company has a 52-week low of $67.53 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $100.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

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.