Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,848,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 103,518 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $161,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Bayban purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in Southern by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 12,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 2,203 shares during the last quarter. SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $516,000. Tulsa Wealth Advisors INC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Finally, CFO Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,117,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. 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 research note on Friday, May 29th. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.32.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $93.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $105.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $93.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.07. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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 company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently 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.