Brookstone Capital Management Acquires 27,198 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 21.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 152,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,198 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Southern were worth $14,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,179,715,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,011,000 after buying an additional 4,373,271 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its position in Southern by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,266,000 after buying an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soundwatch Capital LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $103,342,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $107.00 to $99.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.21.

Southern Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of SO stock opened at $87.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $95.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.11.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.27%.

Southern Company 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.