GQG Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

GQG Partners LLC lessened its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,802,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,753,649 shares during the period. Southern comprises about 1.8% of GQG Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. GQG Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,218,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $315,290,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 72.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after buying an additional 1,293,072 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 4.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,203,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after acquiring an additional 698,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $51,605,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

SO stock opened at $88.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $86.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.23.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

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.