Gateway Wealth Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Gateway Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 135.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 35,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,471 shares during the quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $3,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uptick Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 2.4% during the first quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG grew its holdings in Southern by 4.7% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.21.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $96.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $94.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.35%.

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.