Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 4.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 362,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,744 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $33,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 9,099.6% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after buying an additional 4,373,271 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $9,725,187,000 after buying an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth about $103,342,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Southern by 1,518.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,044,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,880,000 after buying an additional 979,587 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.50.

Southern Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of SO opened at $84.44 on Friday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $92.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $92.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for 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 was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 73.27%.

Southern Company Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.