SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Sells 1,231 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. decreased its position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,231 shares during the quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Southern by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419,724 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,003,419,000 after purchasing an additional 107,394 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,680,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $614,297,000 after purchasing an additional 81,066 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $510,229,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 4.1% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,046,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,107,000 after purchasing an additional 120,816 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $91.97 on Thursday. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $94.15 and its 200 day moving average is $92.51. The company has a market capitalization of $101.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Southern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.56.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.