L2 Asset Management LLC Takes $614,000 Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

L2 Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,417 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $614,000.

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

Southern Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $103.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.34. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $94.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.44. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

Southern Company 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.