Argent Trust Co Grows Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Argent Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 72,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,637 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Southern were worth $6,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 17.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 16.2% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 21,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,005,000 after acquiring an additional 3,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 116.7% in the second quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 6,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 3,683 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $97.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.74 and a 200-day moving average of $91.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price objective on Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Truist Financial set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.64.

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.