Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Maridea Wealth Management LLC

Maridea Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 66.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,911 shares during the period. Maridea Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,414,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,084,885,000 after purchasing an additional 510,080 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,377,494,000 after acquiring an additional 241,572 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,179,715,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $621,567,000 after purchasing an additional 87,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 9,099.6% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:SO opened at $90.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $100.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.31. The stock has a market cap of $100.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.45.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $97.00 to $84.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.91.

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.