Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 32,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,077,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of SO opened at $91.47 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.44. The stock has a market cap of $105.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a P/E/G 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.Southern’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

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.