Southern Company (The) $SO Position Lowered by Soroban Capital Partners LP

Soroban Capital Partners LP trimmed its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 61.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,375,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,718,097 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for 0.4% of Soroban Capital Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Soroban Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Southern were worth $229,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.21.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $96.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $108.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.80. 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 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

About Southern

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.