OneAscent Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• OneAscent Wealth Management acquired 35,596 Southern Company shares worth approximately $3.4 million, making Southern its 10th-largest holding and representing 1% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 64.1% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $100.09; seven analysts rate the stock a Buy, 11 a Hold, and two a Sell.
• Southern exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.13 versus the $1.01 consensus, while revenue came in below estimates at $6.98 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, equivalent to a 3.4% annual yield.

OneAscent Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 35,596 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,407,000. Southern accounts for 1.0% of OneAscent Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SO. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Seven equities 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $100.09.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.76 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's fifty day moving average is $94.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business 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 firm posted $0.79 EPS. The business's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. 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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