Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 50.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,526 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Southern by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $1,111,450,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $95.33 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.40. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The firm has a market cap of $107.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.91.

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.