Quantinno Capital Management LP Raises Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 35.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 459,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,316 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Southern were worth $44,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Seaport Research Partners lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.21.

Southern Stock Down 0.6%

SO stock opened at $96.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $108.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.94.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

About Southern

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.