Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC Invests $3.04 Million in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Spartan Wealth Advisory Services disclosed a new position in Southern Company, buying 31,504 shares valued at about $3.04 million in the first quarter.
• Southern’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $1.32 versus the $1.21 estimate and revenue of $8.40 billion, up 8% from a year ago.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share, bringing the annualized payout to $3.04 and a yield of about 3.2%.

Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 31,504 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,041,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.7% in the first quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC now owns 3,591 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Southern by 1.2% during the first quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,283 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Southern by 20.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,930,415 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $186,324,000 after purchasing an additional 334,152 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,389 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $99.91.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $95.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.40. The stock has a market cap of $107.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

About Southern

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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