Trust Co. of Vermont Takes Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,212,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after buying an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at about $655,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 11.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,320,000 after acquiring an additional 46,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2.7% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after acquiring an additional 13,392 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 0.4%

SO opened at $92.42 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.37. 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 has a market capitalization of $106.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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