Capital Square LLC Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Capital Square LLC acquired a new stake 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 acquired 27,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,600,000. Southern accounts for about 1.1% of Capital Square LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Southern by 18.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth about $264,829,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its position in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the second 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 last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.09 on Monday. Southern Company has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $102.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.52 and a 200-day moving average of $94.44.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 72.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SO. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Barclays cut their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

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.