Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 66.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,567 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $5,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Southern by 22.6% in the 4th 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 boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 384,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $1,111,450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.21.

Southern Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of SO opened at $96.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.94. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

Southern Company 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.