Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by RFP Financial Group LLC

RFP Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 41.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,531 shares during the period. Southern makes up approximately 0.4% of RFP Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. RFP Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.38.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

Southern stock opened at $93.90 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

Southern 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.