TIAA Trust National Association Has $6.30 Million Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

TIAA Trust National Association cut its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 65.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 72,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 134,056 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Southern by 320.3% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,179,425,000 after purchasing an additional 25,567,431 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in Southern by 83.8% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Southern by 1,518.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,044,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,880,000 after purchasing an additional 979,587 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $92.93 on Wednesday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.87. The firm has a market cap of $104.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were 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 owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.38.

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.