Southern Company (The) $SO Holdings Raised by CWS Financial Advisors LLC

CWS Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SO. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 4,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 4.6% in the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the second quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 10,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $940,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 3.8% during the second quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 3,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Barclays set a $70.00 price target on Southern in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. TD Cowen started coverage on Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued 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 $99.56.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.65 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.50. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $99.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.27%.

Southern Company Profile

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.