Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,471,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,308 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned 0.13% of Southern worth $135,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.3% in the second quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 4,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 10,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Southern by 1.0% in the second quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the second quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 3,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 price objective (up previously from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 17th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.56.

Southern Stock Down 0.6%

SO stock opened at $90.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $99.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $80.46 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 73.27%.

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.