Norris Perne & French LLP MI Buys New Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Norris Perne & French LLP MI bought a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $774,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Uptick Partners LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 1.5% in the first quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the third quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2.4% during the first quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $106.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. HSBC assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.50 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.24.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $93.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $107.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $81.69 and a 12 month high of $99.58.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.