Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by 1832 Asset Management L.P.

1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 8.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 615,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 50,271 shares during the quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Southern were worth $56,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its stake in Southern by 64.6% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 65,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,021,000 after purchasing an additional 25,700 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.8% in the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 22,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,083,000 after buying an additional 2,430 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,582,126,000 after buying an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. Finally, WealthShield Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $226,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 1.2%

Southern stock opened at $87.96 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly 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. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The company had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Southern in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. One research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.03.

About Southern

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.