Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Cornerstone Advisory LLC

Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 325.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,180 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Southern by 11.5% during the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 128,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,191,000 after acquiring an additional 25,235 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 0.9% during the third quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at $743,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 89,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,466,000 after buying an additional 5,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.91.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $94.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $104.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.33. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.27%.

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.