Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 93,411 Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Elevation Point Wealth Partners purchased 93,411 shares of Southern Company during the second quarter, valued at approximately $8.94 million. Institutional investors collectively own 64.1% of the utility’s outstanding stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with seven Buy, eleven Hold, and two Sell ratings. The consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $100.09.
• Southern reported quarterly EPS of $1.13, beating estimates of $1.01, while revenue reached $6.98 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, equal to a 3.4% annualized yield.

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 93,411 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,940,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Southern by 22.6% in 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 buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Southern by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,111,450,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 2.6%

Southern stock opened at $89.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $94.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $102.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

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.

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