Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 401,627 Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Sanctuary Advisors acquired 401,627 Southern Company shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $38.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 64.1% of SO.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with seven Buy, eleven Hold, and two Sell ratings; the consensus rating is Hold with a $100.09 price target. Shares recently opened at $89.09, below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Southern reported quarterly EPS of $1.13, exceeding estimates of $1.01, while revenue came in at $6.98 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing a 3.4% annualized yield.

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 401,627 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $38,440,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on SO. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded 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. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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 Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $94.52 and a 200-day moving average of $94.44. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Southern's payout ratio is presently 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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