Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,231,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 216,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Southern were worth $311,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 17.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $655,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Southern by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after purchasing an additional 46,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Southern by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.91.

Southern Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $95.33 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $94.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The firm has a market cap of $107.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.26, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.35%.

Southern 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.