Field & Main Bank Invests $951,000 in Southern Company (The) $SO

Field & Main Bank bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 9,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $951,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Uptick Partners LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Southern by 2.4% in the 1st 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 period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.3% in 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 lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.7% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 2,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:SO opened at $88.18 on Friday. Southern Company has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.38. The company has a market capitalization of $101.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

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.