OneAscent Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 35,596 Southern Company (The) $SO

OneAscent Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 35,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,407,000. Southern makes up approximately 1.0% of OneAscent Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.09 on Friday. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $94.52 and a 200-day moving average of $94.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The business’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 year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.90%.

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.