Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service decreased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,706,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 74,300 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.25% of Southern worth $248,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,003,419,000 after purchasing an additional 107,394 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $614,297,000 after purchasing an additional 81,066 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $510,229,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,107,000 after purchasing an additional 120,816 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $91.12 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $94.14 and its 200-day moving average is $92.51. The stock has a market cap of $100.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays set a $70.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.56.

Southern Company Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.