BIP Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 31,963 Southern Company (The) $SO

BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO – Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 31,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,059,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Shares of SO stock opened at $92.83 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $94.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.31. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $106.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern's payout ratio is 72.90%.

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold”.