Arizona State Retirement System Raises Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 312,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,059 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Southern were worth $29,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Uptick Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the first quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 15,994 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG lifted its stake in Southern by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.98 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $89.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,416,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,761,003. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.22. The company has a market cap of $102.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.33.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. KeyCorp lowered 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.