Pure Financial Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Southern Company (The) $SO

Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 9,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $936,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after buying an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Southern in the second quarter worth $655,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,320,000 after acquiring an additional 46,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Southern by 2.7% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,268,000 after acquiring an additional 13,392 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SO. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on Southern in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seven equities research 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.88 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $103.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.43. Southern Company has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. 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 (NYSE:SO) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.