The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Lifted by Belpointe Asset Management LLC

Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,052 shares during the quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at $1,288,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 382.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after buying an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.8% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

Southern stock opened at $89.51 on Friday. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $90.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $97.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SO shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.