Magellan Asset Management Ltd Purchases 47,355 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 450,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,355 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Southern were worth $39,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Beacon Financial Strategies CORP bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The stock was 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 directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Up 1.2%

SO stock opened at $91.58 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.82. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $103.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.