APG Asset Management N.V. Trims Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

APG Asset Management N.V. trimmed its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,150,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,182 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned about 0.10% of Southern worth $109,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,034,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southern by 0.7% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 4,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial set a $103.00 price objective on Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.64.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $97.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.35. The firm has a market cap of $107.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.32%.

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.