Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 98.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,373,991 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $4,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,414,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,084,885,000 after buying an additional 510,080 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,377,494,000 after acquiring an additional 241,572 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $1,179,715,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $621,567,000 after acquiring an additional 87,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.64.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $97.38 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $107.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.33. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

Southern Company Profile

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.