Welch Group LLC Has $67.95 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Welch Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 779,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,686 shares during the period. Southern comprises 2.6% of Welch Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $67,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 120.1% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Truist Financial set a $103.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.69.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $94.90 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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