Aigen Investment Management LP Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 15,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,328,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.6% in 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 buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in 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 buying an additional 384,860 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Southern by 3.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 285,546 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore upgraded 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

Southern Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $93.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $105.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $93.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.95. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were 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 was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company 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.