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

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 107,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,449 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 18.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:SO traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $95.62. 3,096,682 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,509,696. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Truist Financial reduced 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 Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.26.

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.