Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Invests $861,000 in Southern Company (The) $SO

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 8,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $861,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the 4th 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Southern by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $264,829,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,266,000 after buying an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Barclays lowered their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $92.22 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $94.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.42. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a market capitalization of $106.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.90%.

About Southern

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.