Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 93,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,940,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 17.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth about $655,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after purchasing an additional 46,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE:SO opened at $89.09 on Friday. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The business 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%.Southern’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

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.