Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 1,694,066 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,694,066 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.63% of Southern worth $9,725,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co raised its position in Southern by 1,428.6% in the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Southern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $98.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.56.

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

Southern stock opened at $90.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50-day moving average is $94.10 and its 200-day moving average is $92.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

About Southern

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.