M Holdings Securities Inc. Makes New $1.20 Million Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 12,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,204,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 120.1% during the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore upgraded Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $98.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $91.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.59. The firm has a market cap of $107.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

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.