Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Has $529,000 Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. lifted its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $80,000. XML Financial LLC boosted its position in Southern by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 13,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $986,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. Adalta Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC now owns 27,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,001,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $278,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 78,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,641,000 after acquiring an additional 3,343 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $88.58. 7,165,715 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,512,907. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $89.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.90.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.