5,156 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Purchased by Heritage Investors Management Corp

Heritage Investors Management Corp acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $498,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.26.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $97.84 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $93.81 and its 200 day moving average is $92.75. The company has a market cap of $110.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company 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 firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

About Southern

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.