Southern Company (The) $SO Stock: Capital Investment Advisors LLC Increases Holdings

Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 686,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 37,599 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $56,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth $737,256,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $264,829,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $191,120,000. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,114,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $157,217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.24.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $93.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $107.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $87.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.98. Southern Company has a one year low of $81.69 and a one year high of $99.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.90%.

Southern Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.