Simplicity Wealth LLC Sells 5,890 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Simplicity Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 39.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,890 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $855,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth about $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its position in Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $103,342,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of SO opened at $87.52 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $87.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.75. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $82.05 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $96.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. 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 report on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $97.00 to $84.00 in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.91.

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.