31,504 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Purchased by Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC

Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 31,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,041,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Southern by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,111,450,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $95.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $107.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.19 and a 200 day moving average of $93.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on SO shares. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.91.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.