Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Sound Income Strategies LLC

Sound Income Strategies LLC reduced its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 42.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,174 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $674,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its position in Southern by 320.3% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after acquiring an additional 25,567,431 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,450,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Southern by 18.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on SO. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.26.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

SO stock opened at $97.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.75. The company has a market capitalization of $110.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 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.