Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,891 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.62% of Southern worth $621,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $36,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:SO opened at $89.36 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $98.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $93.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 price target (up previously from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.03.

Southern Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.