Southern Company (The) $SO Stock Holdings Boosted by Summit Asset Management LLC

Summit Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Summit Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SO. Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in Southern by 24.7% in the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,982.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 5,353 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,672,000 after buying an additional 30,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 154,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,180,000 after buying an additional 2,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $102.50 price objective (up previously from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Barclays set a $70.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Southern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.56.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $91.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 3.31 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 73.27%.

Southern Company 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.