Marcum Wealth LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Marcum Wealth LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 84.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,896 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,432 shares during the quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,740 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 178,379 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,086,000 after buying an additional 9,481 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 36,936 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,331,000 after buying an additional 2,394 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 10,781 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $972,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $201,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.8 %

SO opened at $88.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $97.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $64.53 and a 52 week high of $91.86. The business's 50 day moving average is $88.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

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Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm's revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $88.27.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Southern

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Company Profile

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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