Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 9,559 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 43.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,559 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 9,099.6% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Southern by 83.8% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,266,000 after buying an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,066 shares during the period. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the second quarter valued at about $103,342,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Southern from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Southern from $107.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $102.50 price objective (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Southern in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.26.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.00 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.85. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $82.05 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.