Dearborn Partners LLC Buys Shares of 16,886 Southern Company (The) $SO

Dearborn Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,616,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $737,256,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $264,829,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $88.94 on Friday. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $102.32 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.42.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

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.