Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 268.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,459 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.26.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $95.77 on Thursday. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $107.96 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.23.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s payout ratio 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.