Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Sells 10,484 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,484 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $12,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Southern by 3.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $808,628,000 after buying an additional 285,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SO. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 target price on Southern and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:SO opened at $93.90 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.97.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid 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 yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.