Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC Increases Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 299,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,821 shares during the quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $28,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.64.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $97.67 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $90.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a market cap of $107.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.32%.

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.