Southern Company (The) $SO Stock Holdings Lifted by Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC increased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 173,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,204 shares during the period. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $16,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Advantage Trust Co grew its stake in Southern by 1,428.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth $38,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 309.5% in the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.21.

Southern Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of SO stock opened at $87.59 on Wednesday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.58 and its 200-day moving average is $92.10. The stock has a market cap of $96.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

Southern Profile

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.