BIP Wealth LLC Has $2.52 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

BIP Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 49.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,612 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Southern by 320.3% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,179,425,000 after buying an additional 25,567,431 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its position in Southern by 83.8% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Southern by 1,518.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,044,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,880,000 after purchasing an additional 979,587 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Southern by 790.6% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 811,737 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,542,000 after purchasing an additional 720,589 shares during the period. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 2,785.8% during the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 563,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,358,000 after purchasing an additional 543,517 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $96.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.63 and a 200-day moving average of $92.09. The stock has a market cap of $106.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.62, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.41. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Evercore raised shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. KeyCorp raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Six 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

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.