Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 19,222 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC trimmed its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 565,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,222 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.05% of Southern worth $53,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 17.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,127,000 after buying an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 2,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in Southern by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 449,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,259,000 after buying an additional 3,805 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Truist Financial set a $103.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.08.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

SO opened at $98.06 on Monday. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $91.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.57. The company has a market capitalization of $107.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.32%.

About Southern

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.