Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lowered its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,344 shares during the quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 120.1% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This represents a 17.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $93.49 on Friday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $92.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.73. The firm has a market cap of $102.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 75.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

Southern Company 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.