Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC Acquires 8,421 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 40.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,421 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nilsine Partners LLC raised its position in Southern by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 6,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. LeConte Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $467,000. Nikulski Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 9,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $812,000 after purchasing an additional 3,828 shares during the period. Shrier Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $423,000. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 130,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Evercore upgraded Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial set a $103.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Six investment 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.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.08.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $96.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $106.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.90. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $100.83.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is 75.32%.

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.