Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $3.56 Million in Southern Company (The) $SO

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 37,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,564,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $25,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 21st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:SO opened at $88.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $101.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.38. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Southern Company 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.