NewEdge Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 13,889 Southern Company (The) $SO

NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 13,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,329,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,443,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 99,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,667,000 after buying an additional 16,878 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,462,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Southern by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,767,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $154,150,000 after buying an additional 969,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its stake in Southern by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,887,000 after buying an additional 11,448 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $89.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $102.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 72.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SO. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

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.