SteelPeak Wealth LLC Has $469,000 Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 31.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,779 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 63.2% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.00.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $87.15 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $89.68. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $81.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.13. The firm has a market cap of $95.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625. Company 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.