Brookstone Capital Management Sells 7,328 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Brookstone Capital Management reduced its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,328 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $12,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,414,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,084,885,000 after acquiring an additional 510,080 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Southern by 320.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after purchasing an additional 25,567,431 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Southern by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,532,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $808,628,000 after buying an additional 285,546 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its position in Southern by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after buying an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 2,904,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $275,277,000 after buying an additional 53,641 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $96.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $106.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.90. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial set a $103.00 target price on Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

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.