Centre Asset Management LLC Has $642,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Centre Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth $203,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 65,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,055,000 after purchasing an additional 3,436 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 38.3% during the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 3,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 160.3% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 25.5% in the second quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 10,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $784,000 after buying an additional 2,052 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:SO traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $82.92. 1,893,952 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,231,577. The stock has a market cap of $90.85 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.24 and a 200 day moving average of $85.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

About Southern

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.