Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $24.46 Million Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 153.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 266,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 161,341 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Southern were worth $24,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Equitable Trust Co. lifted 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 buying an additional 6,843 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 7,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 822,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $75,521,000 after acquiring an additional 42,531 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Southern by 700.6% during the 2nd quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 161,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,841,000 after acquiring an additional 141,430 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,725,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,066 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Southern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Cowen started coverage on Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.03.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $86.25 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $93.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.46. The firm has a market cap of $94.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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