Southern Company (The) $SO Stake Lowered by Wealth Alliance LLC

Wealth Alliance LLC lowered its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 17.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,856 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 4,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 10,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the second quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 3.8% in the second quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 3,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $91.74. 203,300 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,182,884. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $94.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cowen began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.56.

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.