Freestone Grove Partners LP Buys Shares of 74,550 Southern Company (The) $SO

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 74,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,135,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,043,000. Odyssean LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 105.3% in the 2nd quarter. Odyssean LLC now owns 31,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,027,000 after buying an additional 16,222 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $826,000. Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $276,000. Finally, First Bancorp Inc ME acquired a new position in Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $59,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $88.18 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The business 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 revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 72.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

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.