The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 14th, 2023

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,638 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Southern were worth $5,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Southern by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,002,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,284,352,000 after buying an additional 3,653,841 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 94,652,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,436,360,000 after buying an additional 1,391,612 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 65,068,549 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,424,661,000 after buying an additional 1,313,036 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 57.3% in the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,062,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,223,000 after buying an additional 1,115,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $65,112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $85,381.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,832,299.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $85,381.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,832,299.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.89, for a total value of $359,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 146,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,516,356.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,199 shares of company stock worth $6,974,908 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on SO shares. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Southern from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.14.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $73.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.66, a PEG ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.51. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $58.85 and a 1 year high of $80.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.59 and a 200-day moving average of $68.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.08. Southern had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 11.53%. The business had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Southern’s payout ratio is 87.74%.

Southern Profile

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.