Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Purchased by OneAscent Family Office LLC

OneAscent Family Office LLC increased its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 108.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,120 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,750 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Family Office LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,461,710,000 after buying an additional 698,422 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Southern by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $889,490,000 after purchasing an additional 460,594 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $848,019,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Southern by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $428,794,000 after purchasing an additional 979,756 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $94.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $103.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $94.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business's fifty day moving average is $90.04 and its 200-day moving average is $88.55.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 70.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.20.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.

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