Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Purchases 23,941 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 652,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,941 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Southern were worth $62,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Southern by 320.3% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,179,425,000 after buying an additional 25,567,431 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $1,111,450,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Southern by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,436,212 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643,090 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $97.00 on Friday. Southern Company has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $89.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Seaport Research Partners cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.26.

Southern Company 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.