Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,424,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 107,695 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Southern were worth $734,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 8,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $790,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 43,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,753,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 1,577 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 24,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daviman Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $644,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $94.67 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $106.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.56.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.