Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by Associated Banc Corp

Associated Banc Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 17.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,101 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Southern were worth $10,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.26.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

SO traded up $0.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $95.62. 3,096,682 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,509,696. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $107.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

Southern 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.