Highline Wealth Partners LLC Has $61,000 Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Highline Wealth Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 95.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,970 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $61,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2,785.8% during the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 563,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,358,000 after acquiring an additional 543,517 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $1,813,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,852,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,753,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $260,966,000 after purchasing an additional 47,451 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $96.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $106.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.44. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $93.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.90. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. Truist Financial set a $103.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore raised Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.08.

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.