The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Lifted by Quotient Wealth Partners LLC

Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $251,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 44.3% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $99,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 88,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,198,000 after buying an additional 2,059 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,068,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Syon Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $437,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.14.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $86.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $82.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $89.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

About Southern

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.