Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC Takes Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SOFree Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth $191,120,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the second quarter valued at $920,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Southern during the second quarter valued at $139,458,000. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $1,093,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $737,256,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Southern

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $89.95 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a market capitalization of $103.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $94.36 and a 200 day moving average of $94.44.

Southern (NYSE:SOGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

About Southern

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Southern (NYSE:SO)

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