Uptick Partners LLC Makes New $742,000 Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Uptick Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $742,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new stake in Southern during the second quarter worth about $5,886,000. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,308,000. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $861,000. one8zero8 LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $765,000. Finally, Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,531,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $92.22 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a market cap of $106.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.66 and its 200 day moving average is $94.42.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 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 issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.90%.

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.