Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Purchased by HBK Sorce Advisory LLC

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 148.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,763 shares during the quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after buying an additional 1,694,066 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,377,494,000 after acquiring an additional 241,572 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern in the second quarter valued at $1,179,715,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $621,567,000 after purchasing an additional 87,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SO. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $107.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.21.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $86.36 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $90.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 73.27%.

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.