7,727 Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO Purchased by Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL

Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 7,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $740,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $4,443,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of Southern by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 99,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,667,000 after purchasing an additional 16,878 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,462,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,767,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $154,150,000 after purchasing an additional 969,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Southern by 29.2% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,887,000 after buying an additional 11,448 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $89.95 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.44. The company has a market capitalization of $103.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.09.

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.