Sanctuary Advisors LLC Has $38.88 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 9.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 402,801 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,768 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $38,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Southern by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position 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 worth $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.26.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $96.05 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $108.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

About Southern

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.