Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC Takes $4.81 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 50,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,809,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Uptick Partners LLC increased its stake in Southern by 1.5% in the first quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.4% during the first quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG increased its position in Southern by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays lowered their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $88.94 on Friday. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.42. The company has a market cap of $102.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 1.72 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

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.