UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Takes $591,000 Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $591,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SO. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $92.42 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $106.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

Southern 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.