Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 104,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,487 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $9,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 1.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Southern by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $1,111,450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $89.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’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 directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $97.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $109.35 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.33. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

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.