SteelPeak Wealth LLC Sells 58,134 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 60.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 58,134 shares during the quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC increased its position in Southern by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,033,000 after purchasing an additional 140,151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Stock Down 3.3 %

Southern stock opened at $83.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $91.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $84.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.55.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

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.