Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $35.21 Million Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 502,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 97,729 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $35,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Prudential PLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 23.4% during the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Southern by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Southern by 63.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,776,000 after buying an additional 239,325 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SO. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho raised their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.14.

Southern Stock Down 1.2 %

SO stock opened at $68.73 on Friday. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The company has a market cap of $75.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.89.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,007,222.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $706,526.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,007,222.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,998 shares of company stock worth $1,446,113 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern 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.