Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Sells 108 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 108 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 18.7% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 141.2% in the first quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 9,966 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Southern by 158.2% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 22,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after buying an additional 13,910 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Southern by 4.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 154,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,236,000 after buying an additional 6,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 3.5% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 93,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,592,000 after buying an additional 3,194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.66.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $93.50 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $102.85 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Southern Company 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.