Maridea Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Maridea Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 66.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,911 shares during the period. Maridea Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Southern by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 184,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,740,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 4,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.91.

Southern Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.85 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.31. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market cap of $100.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.45.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s payout ratio is 73.27%.

About Southern

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.