Sound Income Strategies LLC Sells 7,846 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Sound Income Strategies LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 70.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,846 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after buying an additional 1,694,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,377,494,000 after purchasing an additional 241,572 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,179,715,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 1.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $621,567,000 after purchasing an additional 87,891 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 9,099.6% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,011,000 after buying an additional 4,373,271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE SO opened at $85.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $91.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.22. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 73.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.21.

Southern Company 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.