NewEdge Wealth LLC Lowers Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

NewEdge Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 41.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,327 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.21.

Southern Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE SO opened at $96.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $108.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.80. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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