Capital International Investors Sells 8,412,251 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Capital International Investors cut its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 42.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,244,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,412,251 shares during the period. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Southern were worth $980,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SO. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SO. TD Cowen increased their target price on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Evercore raised Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.38.

Southern Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE:SO opened at $92.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $94.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 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.