Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 99.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,472,020 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Southern by 135.6% during the first quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 35,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,433,000 after acquiring an additional 20,471 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group raised its holdings in Southern by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,887,000 after acquiring an additional 11,448 shares during the last quarter. Van Diest Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Van Diest Capital LLC now owns 3,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 335,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $93.15 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $94.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.15. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The firm has a market cap of $107.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.26.

Southern 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.