Maia Wealth LLC Takes Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Maia Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 8.3% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 90,424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,304,000 after purchasing an additional 6,932 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% in the second quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 27,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,392,000 after acquiring an additional 7,360 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373,271 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $90.32 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders 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 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Southern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.03.

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.