OneAscent Financial Services LLC Takes $1 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,002,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Uptick Partners LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.7% during 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 last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $91.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $105.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $94.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.44. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.Southern’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SO. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

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.