Dearborn Partners LLC Invests $1.63 Million in Southern Company (The) $SO

Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 16,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,629,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Southern in the second quarter valued at $264,829,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in Southern by 83.8% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on SO shares. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $90.10 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.44. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

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.