ABN Amro Investment Solutions Has $4.81 Million Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

ABN Amro Investment Solutions increased its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,163 shares during the quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions’ holdings in Southern were worth $4,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SO. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 547,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,819,000 after purchasing an additional 34,237 shares during the last quarter. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS acquired a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $383,000. HORAN Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 103.1% in the 1st quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 5,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 3,003 shares during the last quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC now owns 7,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, DUTCH ASSET Corp acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $293,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE SO opened at $95.81 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.60. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The firm has a market cap of $108.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.91.

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.