Core Capital Management & Research inc. Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,398,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 17.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,127,000 after buying an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth $655,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Southern by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after acquiring an additional 46,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Southern by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,268,000 after acquiring an additional 13,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of SO opened at $88.37 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $92.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.16. The stock has a market cap of $101.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.33. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 72.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. KeyCorp cut 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, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE:SO) is an energy holding company that provides electricity and natural gas services through a group of regulated utility subsidiaries. Its electric utilities generate, transmit and distribute power to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while its gas businesses distribute natural gas and provide related energy services.

The company’s principal electric subsidiaries include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power. Southern Company also operates Southern Nuclear, which manages the company’s nuclear generation interests, including the Vogtle nuclear expansion in Georgia.