R Squared Ltd Buys New Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $699,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $25,000. Bullseye Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth $31,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $114.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Eight 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling Spainhour, Jr. sold 3,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.81, for a total value of $306,002.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,453.66. The trade was a 9.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $92.32 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $81.69 and a 1-year high of $99.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $88.57 and its 200-day moving average is $92.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $8.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 16.00%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 69.25%.

Southern Profile

Southern Company is an energy holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, it generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides natural gas service, primarily across the southeastern United States. Its electric utility businesses include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers in their respective states. Southern Company also owns Southern Power, which develops and operates wholesale power generation assets, and Southern Company Gas, whose businesses distribute natural gas to customers in several states.