Silverlake Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Silverlake Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 10,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,037,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its position in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after buying an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.0%

SO opened at $92.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $106.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.31.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.