207,650 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Bought by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 207,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,042,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Southern by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Southern by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $1,111,450,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.26.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

SO stock opened at $97.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $110.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.75.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

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.