DnB Asset Management AS Has $39.78 Million Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 483,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,807 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Southern were worth $39,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

Southern stock opened at $90.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.46.

Southern Company Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.