Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 10,449 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 10.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 107,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,449 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the 4th 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of SO traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $95.62. The stock had a trading volume of 3,096,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,509,696. 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 $107.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.09. 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 (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $89.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 29th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.26.

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.