The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Lessened by Colonial River Wealth Management LLC

Colonial River Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 286 shares during the period. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 283,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852 shares during the period. Motco boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Motco now owns 3,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 6,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 5,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $269,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM reiterated a “maintains” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Guggenheim upped their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, VNET Group restated a “maintains” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.07.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $69.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 973,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,159,201. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.97. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $58.85 and a 52 week high of $80.57.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.08. Southern had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 11.53%. The business had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.89, for a total value of $359,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 146,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,516,356.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 9,491 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.03, for a total transaction of $712,109.73. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,710,008.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.89, for a total value of $359,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 146,284 shares in the company, valued at $10,516,356.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 91,917 shares of company stock valued at $6,889,527. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Company Profile

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.