GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Reduces Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. trimmed its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 338,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,232 shares during the period. Southern comprises 1.4% of GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $29,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

Southern Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of SO opened at $89.04 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $94.47 and its 200 day moving average is $91.83. The company has a market capitalization of $100.37 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.