Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 563 shares during the period. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in Southern by 125.4% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,059,000 after acquiring an additional 750,500 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Southern by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,789,000 after acquiring an additional 623,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Southern by 71.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,200,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,253,000 after acquiring an additional 499,996 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI started coverage on Southern in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.56.

Southern Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of SO stock opened at $91.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $94.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.50. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

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.