Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Acquired by Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC

Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Southern by 125.4% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,059,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Southern by 40.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,789,000 after purchasing an additional 623,417 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Southern by 71.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,200,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,253,000 after purchasing an additional 499,996 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 price target (up from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Southern to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.56.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

SO opened at $91.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $100.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.50. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend 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.