23,768 Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 97,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,768 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,380,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,895,000 after buying an additional 392,210 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $737,256,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,681,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,793,000 after acquiring an additional 508,149 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,231,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,895,000 after acquiring an additional 216,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,932,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,715,000 after acquiring an additional 54,111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their price target on Southern from $114.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.24.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $93.77 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $87.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.97. The company has a market capitalization of $107.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.31. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $81.69 and a 52-week high of $99.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. Southern’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Southern’s payout ratio is 72.90%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.