Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Makes New Investment in Southern Company (The) $SO

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,457,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $139,458,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.88 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $103.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.