Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Invests $20.04 Million in Southern Company (The) $SO

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund acquired a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 207,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,042,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Ankerstar Wealth LLC bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. 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 note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.26.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

SO opened at $97.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.75. 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 $110.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.34. 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 (NYSE:SO) last posted its 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. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

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.