Focused Alpha LLC Acquires New Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Focused Alpha LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $622,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Southern by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $264,829,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $92.42 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $94.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.37. The firm has a market cap of $106.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Southern’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 72.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Seaport Research Partners cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus 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.