United Bank Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

United Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 56,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,406,000. Southern makes up approximately 1.6% of United Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Uptick Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth about $742,000. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,886,000. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,308,000. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $861,000. Finally, one8zero8 LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $765,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $92.22 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $94.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SO. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

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.